


Our Mrs. Winchester

by Rainpebbles



Series: The Impala Series [6]
Category: Firefly, Serenity (2005), Supernatural
Genre: Action/Adventure, Alternate Universe - Firefly Setting, Crossover, Crossovers & Fandom Fusions, Destiel - Freeform, F/M, M/M, Outer Space, Sabriel - Freeform, Slow Burn, psychic!cas
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-10
Updated: 2017-03-10
Packaged: 2018-10-01 23:40:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 29,127
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10203473
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rainpebbles/pseuds/Rainpebbles
Summary: Impala Series: Part VI After helping out some farmers on a backwater world, Dean finds himself married to a strange girl. Unable to bring her back, Dean isn't sure what to do with her except let her come along. Meanwhile Castiel is struggling even more than usual and its starting to worry the crew. Sabriel and Strong Hints of Destiel.





	

Notes: Hi Hello and welcome to the Impala Series part 6! I'll have to admit, I struggled with this one, so hopefully you all enjoy!

 

Disclaimer: Sadly I can stake no claim to either fandom.

CHAPTER 1

It was a warm mid afternoon. Summer had hit the planet of Triumph this week and the area was alive with it. Flowers were a bloom, butterflies were dancing around, and every tree was a luxurious green. All the animals were about to play, even the unsavory ones that were currently watching as a covered boat-wagon was drifting down the shallow bed of the river.

Their eyes were on the couple in the front seat, from the looks of it a husband and wife, the husband controlling the two Clydesdale horses pulling along the wagon. It was hard to get a good read on them, seeing as they both wore large hats, one of which was one ugly purple bonnet, that were tilted just so that their faces were covered in shadow.

The leader of the set of bandits gave the signal, seemingly satisfied that this couple wouldn't be giving them too much trouble, and his men poured out from their hiding places among the trees.

"Pardon me for intruding, but I believe y'all be carrying something of mine!" the leader shouted, sounding incredibly smug.

The husband didn't look up but shouted back, "T'ain't your'n!"

He didn't sound scared, or even surprised, which unnerved the leader and his men a little, but they still didn't see any weapons, so they continued on with their plan. Even if it was even more odd when the wife didn't start screaming like most of them did. Hell, she didn't even move to cower behind her man…probably marital problems.

"You gonna give us what due us, and every damn ting else on that boat. And I think mebbe you're gonna give me a little one-on-one time with the missus." He sneered, showing an impressive four teeth that remained in his rotten mouth.

The husband finally looked up enough for them to see under the brim of his hat. It looked like a young man, early twenties. Little too clean for these parts….

When he spoke, it sounded good natured and again, not all that worried, "Oh, I think you might wanna re-consider that last part. See, I married me a powerful ugly creature." He smiled apologetically and shrugged.

The wife's head shot up at that, turning to glare at the husband….only now the men could see that it was no woman right away. The bandits were in shock and stared at her… his offended face.

"How can you say that? How can you shame me in front of new people, Sam!?" He whined to the man next to him, truly sounding like an insulted and whiny wife who had just been told that yes, the dress did make her look fat.

The uh…"husband" shrugged helplessly, "Dean, if I could make you purtier, I would."

Scoffing, the man in the dress turned his back away and crossed his arms, the perfect picture of an irate woman. "You are not the man I met twenty-four years ago!"

Just before the shock form the realization wore off form the bandits, the two in the wagon ripped out their guns on them. The "husband" had his gun trained on the man closest to them that had originally had the best shot at the wagon, and then the "wife" had his gun trained right on the leader, holding him in place.

Dean looked the leader right in the eye as he slowly slid the bonnet off his head with his free hand, "Now I want you to think real hard. You have been bird-dogging this town for a while now. They wouldn't mind us making bloated corpses out of all of you. So, you can luxuriate in a nice jail cell, but if your hand touches metal, I swear by my pretty flowered bonnet….I will end you." He kept his tone light, but the bandits could still hear the deadly intent behind it.

Each of the dirty bandits looked to each other and then their leader. Seemed like none of them liked either choice, but the trigger happy leader made it for them as he whipped out his revolver and shouted, "Take 'em!"

Immediately the cover over the wagon is ripped away to reveal Meg and Balthazar, both armed and shooting at the men who were approaching the sides of the wagons, trudging through the water. It might have been the four Impala crew members versus eight bandits, but it looked like the dregs were all talk and no aim, and they were quickly killed off, each of them left floating in the water around the boat and thus ending the gun fight. Whoops and hollers in celebration rang out over the swamp.

 

At Sam's insistence, they pulled the floaters onto the empty wagon and started to drive back to town, Dean taking the reins this time, happy to be able to drive for once.

"Wah hoo! That was fun, wasn't it Sammy? Nothing like a nice easy job!" Dean smiled over to his brother who was putting away his gun.

"Gabe and Cas will be happy. They only just got back to normal after the last set of healing they had to do. I bet they'd both blow a gasket if we came back all full of holes." Once his gun was secure Sam leaned back on the bench soaking in the sun and reveling in the summer air.

The nice weather seemed to be making everyone happy and relaxed. Meg was happily rummaging through the bodies pockets and coats for anything useful or shiny, if it were any other person as happy as she was, they probably would have been whistling as they did it. Balthazar was sitting on the edge of the side of the wagon, far away from the dripping bodies as possible, but he had s soft and relaxed smile on his face as the sun hit it. Dean had been surprised when the middle Novak had volunteered to help with this little job, but the other man had shrugged it off. He had said that he wanted to feel more useful and that Castiel was being taken care of by Gabe and the others just fine. They were probably still back in the town, enjoying the little stores that were there. Dean was sure that Sam would disappear back into the little bookstore as soon as they got back. Dean was also sure that Cas was probably still in there too, reading everything he could get his hands on.

A big grin spread over Dean's face as he continued to drive the horses back up the river. It was moments like this that Dean felt lucky for once. It was a beautiful day. He had his brother beside him after completing a successful job. He had a good and loyal crew behind him, and he had an odd sort of pseudo family waiting for him back in town. He didn't think it could have been possible, but his smile grew even wider, and he didn't care if anyone saw it.

Their return had been incredible. All of the town had rushed out to greet them, smiles and cheers. As Dean drove the wagon further into town it started to look like a makeshift parade with people lining the streets and waving to them as they moved along, happy sounds and even some flowers thrown here and there for good measure. Meg looked incredibly uncomfortable with it all and jumped out of the wagon early on to walk back away from the crowds, Sam was awkwardly waving at some of the people, and Balthazar was grasping at the hands of the young women and blowing kisses and leaning so far over the side of the wagon that Dean was worried that he might fall.

The Captain pulled right up to the center of the town, conveniently near the bookstore, and finally got out to greet the town's mayor and give him the good news.

Sam watched as his brother talked with the town elders and such, giving them the details on what had happened , and also telling them of the bodies that would need taking care of. But what Sam was really looking at was Dean's wandering eyes. Dean was searching the crowd for something, and Sam knew the second that Dean found it because his face lit up even more.

Sam didn't have to look over to see what it was, he knew, but he glanced over anyway to see Cas coming out from the bookstore, probably to see who was making such a racket that he couldn't concentrate on his books. His forehead was scrunched in confusion at the crowds until he happened to spot Dean and caught his eye. Cas grinned back in response, but didn't move into the crowd, probably still a little uncomfortable around large groups of people, especially after the whole witch hunt thing not too long ago.

His thoughts were broken by a sudden weight on his back and a loud laughter in his ear that he recognized right away.

"Hi Gabe."

"Hiya Samsquatch! Glad to see y'all made it back okay." Gabriel practically shouted in his ear to be heard over the cheering crowd. The pilot slid down from Sam's back from where he had jumped on him from a higher perch and grabbed at Sam's hand to pull him into the fray, chattering happily about the big party the town had planned for if the crew was successful. He also joked that if they were less than successful, the food and wine would have been for the funeral.

The sun was getting lower in the sky, but the festivities were just about to begin.

 

The town certainly knew how to party right. There was loud music from their band of strings and pipes. There was lively dancing around a bonfire. There was a gigantic buffet of food straight from their own farms. Fresh and warm pies that Dean dug into before even trying to have something dinner-like. And then there was the homemade moonshine and wine that just made everything seem ten times better.

Off to the side of the action, Dean and Cas were sitting on a log looking at the people dancing around the fire. Each of them had full plates of food and half empty glasses of apple cider for Cas, and some of the moonshine for Dean. The Captain had hit a good buzz at this point and felt almost giddy.

"Dude, you should have seen their faces when they found out it was a dude in the dress! I swear one of 'em looked like he was about to choke on his tongue!" Dean laughed merrily, bumping shoulder's with the man next to him.

Cas had a bewildered look on his face, "Yes, of course…but can you explain to me the reasoning behind you wearing the dress and not Meg?"

"Well, first off, Meg would castrate anyone who made her put on the dress simply cause she was the only girl available. Secondly, tactics, man. I needed Meg in the back!" He said loudly, clapping Cas roughly on the shoulder, not noticing him wince upon the impact before he continued, leaning in close as if sharing a secret.

"Besides, those soft cotton dresses feel kinda nice. It's the whole…air flow thing. And have you ever worn girl's underwear? I'm telling you buddy…I did this one time when I met some crazy chick on Tianco, and seriously, I kinda liked it." He let out a somewhat unmanly giggle after his confession that turned into a boisterous laugh as he saw Cas' eyes widen comically. The laughter continued until Dean was practically bent over holding onto his ribs. Cas started to look a bit concerned, like maybe perhaps he thought Dean might be in pain.

"What's so funny?"

"Oh, nothing. It's been a long time since I've laughed that hard. It's been more than a long time really. Years…" He trailed off, but the smile remained and Cas leaned forward a little so that he could see it from a better angle, Dean noticed him do this and grinned wider.

"You just keep that to yourself, Cas. Don't go spreading that around. Gabriel would probably take it as some sort of challenge." And Dean pulled his plate of food closer, ready to dig in to the food. Now glancing at what Dean had picked out from the buffet, Cas saw that there were at least six slices of pie, each a different flavor all circled on his plate to make it look like an odd patchwork quilt of pie.

"Dean, shouldn't you be eating dinner first?" Asked Cas, looking to his own plate that Anna had assembled. It held all the food groups, and he pointed this out to Dean who shook his head as if disappointed.

"Aww, Cas. If I ate a whole meal first, then I wouldn't have enough room to try all the flavors of pie! Priorities, man!"

"Arteries, Dean." Came Sam's voice off from the side of them. He and Gabriel were in each other's arms as they too stared into the fire.

"Bunch of girls all of you. I'm going to go get some more of this awesome moonshine and more pie. I think I just saw a cherry one go by. You guys can stay here and swap health recipes and trade dieting secrets, I'm off."And Dean walked off to the buffet table.

On his way over, Dean saw Meg talking with one of the elders form the town as they both sat on a wooden log. The elder was holding one bad-ass looking cup out for Meg to examine.

"This cup is said to help one commune with the spirits. The spirits are very flighty, and only come when needed most. And such it is with people like you."

He handed the cup to Meg as an offering and she took it gently from his withered old hands. Dean half expected her to roll her eyes and walk away, but instead her eyes widened in wonder and looked truly baffled and honored. It was some damn good acting from what Dean could see in the half light.

"This is the most…you, friend. You're the shit!" She stammered out, pretending she was at a loss for words. And she enthusiastically hugged the old man and planted a wet and sloppy kiss on his cheek. "I will totally treasure this." She stated to the stunned elder before bouncing off to fill the "spirit cup" with the spirits at the drink table.

Looking around the Captain took note of each of his crew. Sam and Gabriel were still cuddling over by the fire. The very sight warmed him and grossed him out at the same time. It was good to see that the two of them had patched up any issues that might have come up after Gabe had been left behind. Dean knew it must have been pretty rough on Gabriel as well since he was up on the pyre next to Cas of his own free will. But seeing them now, Sam's cheek resting on Gabriel's hair and them smiling dumbly at nothing…it was nice.

Dean knocked back the rest of his own moonshine and went to pour himself more.

Next he spotted Bobby talking to the local preacher. It certainly didn't look like a deep philosophical conversation over a passage in the bible. Instead it looked more like two old friends swapping stories and sharing a bottle of whiskey, probably 'cause it was. From where Dean was he could hear one of Bobby's favorite stories of old deer hunts, and Dean could also see the healthy red glow in each of their faces as they toasted this memory or that.

Speaking of red faces, Chuck was beyond drunk at this point. He had lost his normal aversion to strangers, and usual common sense, and was now telling stories to the kids who sat in front of him with wide eyes. Dean was a bit curious as to what story he was telling them. Perhaps it was the story of the strapping young captain.

Dean sauntered up to listen in.

"And so…hic… the succubus hid among the crowd seeking out it's next victim…hic."

That was not what Dean was expecting at all, and he was also pretty sure that kids this age shouldn't be hearing about succubi….The Captain could only hope they left the planet before the mothers found out what Chuck had been telling them at story time. Quickly Dean scampered away, not wanting to be caught anywhere near Chuck if he was overheard by a protective parent.

Out of the corner of his eye, Dean spotted a flash of red hair. Turning to get a better look, he saw that it was indeed Anna. She was surrounded by a gaggle of teen aged girls who were "oo-ing" and "ah-ing" over her hair and clothes, asking if they could braid it with flowers. Anna seemed to love the attention and was spouting compliments to the young girls here and there, obviously trying to install some sort of girly self-esteem. Good for Anna, he thought.

Then Dean heard Balthazar's loud laugh from over by the dancing circle. He had been dancing with each and every young woman in the town, making a point to dance with each of them and inform Dean of the head count each time they bumped into each other during the party. Currently he had a girl in each hand and they were spinning around together in a drunken trio. Eventually the trio spun off to the other side of the fire, and that's when Dean caught sight of Cas.

Apparently when Dean had gotten up, one of the young girls, a twelve year old by the look of it, had asked the young man to dance with her. Cas had been honored to be asked to dance and readily agreed.

Now the young girl was perched on Cas' feet, face buried in his stomach and her small arms encircling his waist as they rocked back and forth, slowly moving around in a circle. Cas' face was very serious, as if he was taking the responsibility of the dance to the highest proportions. But he held the girl's shoulders gently, and didn't complain at having his toes crushed. Finally she moved her head to the side revealing her face, still resting it upon Cas abdomen with a content, if not sad expression.

It was then that Dean recognized the girl. She was the daughter of one of the men who had been killed by the bandits while he was working his salesman route. They shot him in the stomach and taken all of his sale items, leaving him behind for dead. Dean wasn't sure, but he thought the girls name was Claire.

He watched for a bit longer. Sipping at his drink as the scene made him sober up a bit too much for this early in the night. Balthazar seemed to pick up on this fact and brought his lady friends over, somehow juggling two girls and a drink in each hand. Soon Dean was dancing around with his friend, a girl in one hand and some sweet moonshine in the other, the sobering scene forgotten for now.

An hour later Dean had to sit down as the spinning in his head only got worse with the constant spinning of the dance. He was still grinning broadly as he watched as Sam and Gabe joined Balthazar and the girls in some fashion of square dance.

Bobby was also watching. From afar he could see as a young woman moved up to the Captain. She placed a crown of daisies on his head. The preacher could see Dean smile awkwardly at that, probably not too comfortable with the idea of flowers in his hair, but it looked like he quickly forgot the flowers as he was offered a glass of wine. Courteously he takes a deep sip and smiles at the girl, who smiles back shyly before moving back into the dance, dragging Dean behind her.

For whatever reason, the whole scene made Bobby feel a bit uneasy. He stopped sipping from his whiskey, and tried his best to keep an eye on the woman for the rest of the night. He also tried his best to keep an eye on the rest of the inebriated crew, but it was damn hard.

"Like tryin' to keep an eye on a nest of sugared up toddlers…" He grumbled out.

 

CHAPTER 2

Oh, God. Never again, thought Dean as he woke up in a hay bale the next morning incredibly itchy from sleeping in the hard grass. His head was pounding a resounding staccato as he blearily looked around, spotting several members of his crew passed out among the town's people.

The sun had been up for a while it seemed, but the town was still quiet because of most of the people were still strewn across the area, snoring away with bottles of moonshine still in their hands.

A distance away he spots Cas who was crouched down low poking Balthazar with a stick, half bored, half curious expression on his face. Obviously he hadn't slept the night before and had to find someway to entertain himself while everyone else passed out. But he looked up eagerly when Dean called out to him, "Dude, were there any survivors?" damn, his voice hadn't cracked that bad since puberty.

Cas didn't answer right away, instead he glanced around him as he sensed the rest of the crew stirring. A few seconds later Dean got several answering groans from the crew as they all sat up, hands at their temples trying to rub away the hangovers. Dean's own pain dissipated as soon as he got a look at Sam's hair. Sometime while he was asleep someone must have braided flowers in his hair like Anna's. Gabriel spotted it next and fell over laughing loud enough to rouse the rest of the town's people.

Besides the rolling in his stomach, Dean felt pretty darn good. He slowly sat up, brushing the hay off of his soiled shirt as Cas came up to him.

"I can help you with your head." He offered.

Dean smiled warmly, "Nah. Thanks though. If I can mojo away hangovers then there will be nothing to stop me from going to parties like this all the time. Besides…" He leaned back in the hay pulling a startled Cas down next to him. "Its fun waking up after having a roll in the hay!"

 

"Elder Gommen, thank you for the hospitality." Dean said as he shook the townsmen's hand firmly. It was a few hours since the crew stumbled back to their ship to get a head start on their next destination.

"We owe you a great debt. I'm sorry we have so little to pay it with. Though I hope our gifts will show our regards." The old man intoned softly, clearly suffering a headache himself and not wishing to make too many loud noises.

Dean smiled warmly, "Well I don't think Meg's ever letting go of that cup." Both men share a laugh at this as Sam moved up to Dean side, whispering in his ear. Sometime in the last couple of hours he had managed to untangle all of the various plants from his hair, but Dean could still see some spots where pollen had left behind yellow powder here and there.

"Dean, there's a patrol boat heading into atmo right now." He warned. Seemed like it was time to go, so Dean turned his attention back to the elder.

"Well, it's been awesome, sir. But we've gotta fly."

The elder nodded in understanding, "We'll pray for a safe voyage, and hope to lay eyes on you again here not too long from now, my friend." He said warmly, clasping the Captain's hands in his own.

It wasn't too often that they were welcomed back to any planet that they visited, especially this warmly. It made both brothers feel normal, like they had friends to visit, people to call in they needed a favor. It was a wonderful and foreign feeling.

"Count on it, sir." Dean said with perhaps a little more emotion than he meant to, but the elder just smiled and walked off the ramp, muttering a "bless you" to Dean and his brother before heading off to the town.

The captain turned back to Sam, "Let's get going before that patrol ship finds us. And you should probably wash out that pixie dust before Chuck starts sneezing his eyeballs out." And they moved quickly back into the ship.

 

Castiel had been in his nest trying to read one of the books that the kind bookkeeper had given him. It was a lovely old novel with a hard binding and the musty soft scent of the books from his old library. He was excited to immerse himself in the flow of words, but he just couldn't get comfortable. He had tried laying on his stomach, his side, sitting against the wall…nothing worked. His back hurt, right over his shoulder blades the muscles felt incredibly cramped. This was nothing new, it had been like this since Dean opened up his box, but it was slowly getting worse. Almost every day he would feel pain radiating out, a pressure from within.

And now it was keeping him from diving into the ancient story of Frankenstein. He let out a frustrated sigh memorized his place in the book…only page three, and slammed it shut. He would ask Gabriel for assistance. For whatever reason, Cas couldn't heal whatever the problem was, and neither could Gabriel, but his brother could get him some light pain killers from the infirmary. Cas was told he wasn't allowed to get it himself for whatever reason.

Lightly walking through the halls in the socks Dean insisted he wear, he followed to glow he had learned to be Gabriel. It wasn't nearly as bright as Dean's, but it was just as warm with a tickling spark on the edges. When he found himself outside of his brother's bedroom door, he almost barged right in. But memories from when he was younger stopped him.

One of the biggest rules in their house, set by both Gabriel and Balthazar, was knocking before entering one of their rooms, and to never go in without permission. Cas knew he was the reason that the rule was necessary due to an awkward incident when he was ten.

 

17 Years Ago...

He had been seeking out Gabriel to ask if he could borrow one of his books. Being unable to find him he just went to Gabe's room. He didn't think his brother would mind him borrowing the book, so he walked right in and up to his brother's desk where he saw the book on top of the computer.

Reaching for the book he had accidentally knocked over something that fell on the keyboard. It must have been on sleep mode because the screen lit right up, showing a paused video of something. Curious, Castiel clicked the play button to see what it was, thinking it may be one of those funny videos that Gabe was usually making him watch with the kittens.

A few minutes later Gabe came out from the shower, towel around his waist and headed back to his room only to find Castiel sitting at his computer, face scrunched up in confusion. He turned to look at Gabriel, not at all alarmed to be caught in his brother's room.

"Cassy! What are you doing in here!?" Gabriel squeaked.

Castiel didn't even flinch at his panicked brother's tone, "This is very complex." He told his brother seriously, like he was reviewing a homework problem, "If the pizza man truly loves the babysitter, then why does he keep slapping her rear?" He asked innocently.

Gabriel ran over to quickly close the window that his baby brother was looking at, a blush covering his whole body. "Cassy, you can't watch things like this!" He quickly gathered up his little brother and tried to shoo him out the door.

But Castiel was moving too slowly for Gabe, still pondering what he had just watched. "Perhaps she's done something wrong?" He said slowly, trying to figure out the interesting puzzle. Gabriel couldn't even say anything in reply. He was frantically trying to find a way to fix this. Castiel was far too curious of a kid and would probably be asking questions for the next month on what he was just watching. Gabriel was so not ready to give the talk to his baby brother, but he could find a way around this. He smiled kindly to Castiel.

"Hey buddy. I'd love to answer your questions, but I'm kind of busy. I bet Balthazar would love to talk it over with you though! And I think he's in his room right now!"

"Really!?" Castiel asked excitedly.

Gabriel nodded back with enthusiasm, "Yeah! But, maybe you should knock on the door first…and from now on, don't go into my room without my okay. Dongma?"

Castiel nodded happily and tore off down the hall to Balthazar's room. 

Present Day....

Needless to say that Castiel's first exposure to sex was a point of embarrassment for him when he became old enough to realize what had actually occurred.

So when Castiel reached his brother's door, he knocked first.

"Yes?" Came the reply from within.

"Gabriel. It is Castiel speaking to you. I wish to enter your room to ask for something." He stated formally, like making a business call.

"Right…come on in."

Quickly he opened the door to the room, moving straight to where Gabriel was reclined on the bed with a pilot's manual in his lap.

"What's up baby bro?" He asked casually, patting the spot next to him as an invitation to sit down. Castiel complied and tried to settle comfortably, only to fail as his back continued to protest.

"I came to ask for the "good stuff"." He said, using one of Dean's names for the compound.

"Good stuff? Oh! You mean the pain killers! Is it that bad?" Gabriel asked concerned, moving his head to look at Cas' back, like he would be able to see the issue under his clothes.

"It is…unpleasant." Castiel admitted.

Gabriel rubbed at Cas' back for a moment, and his brother sighed in relief at the pressure Gabriel's hands were providing. This continued pain problem was starting to make the pilot nervous. Dean had come to him many times voicing his own concerns to the issue. They had agreed to help him with some pain killers, tightly regulated of course. They all knew that Cas was in a bad place right now, and anyone else in the same emotional turmoil…well it wouldn't be strange for them to become addicted to the narcotics.

There was a small debate between the crew on whether the condition Cas was suffering from was physical at all. Dean had pointed out to them that Cas could heal himself, he had done so when he smashed his hand into the mirror and when he had healed his burned feet. So why couldn't Cas fix his back? There the debate started of whether it was a psychological problem or. Sam and Dean had seen it enough during the war with those who would get limps or spasms when there was no injury to explain them, it could very well be psychosomatic.

So until they learned more, they would just monitor the drugs carefully and try to keep Cas as comfortable as possible. But it had been getting harder for them as Cas' pain seemed to be getting more frequent and stronger. Soon they would have to figure something else out.

For now it had been too soon since his last dose, and Gabriel was loath to leave his brother in pain.

"Here. Lie down on your stomach. I'm going to try something new."He said softly, moving to make room for Cas to do just that.

"Oh, and thanks for knocking first. I totally had a porn magazine in that pilots manual. You could have walked in on an awkward moment, kiddo."

And for the next hour, Gabriel rubbed at Cas' back until his brother's tense back finally loosened up under his hands.

 

Dean had been whistling a happy tune as he was taking inventory of the supplies in the hold on his handy dandy clipboard Sam insisted that they use. He had been having a great day so far. He may have woken up with a hangover, but it was a well deserved one after a fantastic night. He made new friends. They completely avoided that patrol ship. And now he had a wonderful dinner to look forward to due to the wonderful gifts of food form the town's people. The elder had also hinted at some meat among the gifts, and Dean was excited to see Cas' face when he found out that they could have real burgers.

He was just about to head back up into the ship when he heard a noise. He whipped around, clipboard disposed of and gun out. Following the source of the noise he can to a box that he kicked out of the way.

He thanked his amazingly reflexes that he was able to keep from shooting the person that suddenly appeared from behind the cargo.

"Jesus, fuck lady! I could have shot you! Who the hell are you!?" He shouted angrily, not lowering his weapon. Said lady cowered back at the raised voice, half her face hidden behind her curtain of dark hair.

"What…what do you mean?" She gasped out timidly. Dean could hear a slight accent in her voice.

"Well, I think I was pretty clear. What are you doing on my boat?" He demanded.

The woman slowly stood up, half of her dress falling off her shoulder to reveal smooth skin beneath. Shyly she looked up at Dean.

"But…you know I'm to cleave to you?" She said, a confused tone to her voice.

Huh?

"To-whubba-who?" Dean asked in an equally confused voice. This is not what normal stowaways said….

The woman looked mildly panicked and started wringing her hands, "Did Elder Gommen not tell you?" She asked worriedly, her eyes wide and bearing into Dean's.

"Tell me what? Who you are?"

She stopped wringing her hands and moved up close to Dean, like Cas usually did, only this made Dean cringe back.

"Mr. Winchester, sir….I'm your wife."

Dean's eyes widened. No freakin' way...

 

CHAPTER 3

The girl was a small thing, cowering and big eyed, there was no doubt that she was scared, but Dean still kept a safe distance from the stowaway, not taking any chances. Especially since she was spouting crazy talk about being his wife.

"I'm your wife. That was you agreement with Elder Gommen, since he hadn't cash or livestock…"

Dean cut her off, "I'm…I'm sorry. Can you go back to the part where you're my wife?!"

She stuck her wide teary eyes on Dean nervously, "I don't please you?" Now things were getting out of hand here. Dean was never one to put down a pretty girl, but this one was ten kinds of crazy and not even in the fun way like Cas.

"You can't please me! You've never met me!" He shouted loudly, making the girl flinch back as if he had slapped her, but Dean took little notice as Sam and Meg walked into the hold.

"Sam, why do I have a wife?" Dean asked his brother. Sam stopped dead in his tracks, mouth half open as he saw the stowaway.

"You got a plaything? All I got was a cup!" Said Meg disappointed. She had moved up into the girls personal space and was doing a very close inspection of…whatever. Sam heard her comment and turned to his brother, a disproving look on his face. This was another bitch-face he was familiar with. Number 28: The "What did you do now?" Face.

"Wha…Sam, I didn't. I never…" He turned to the girl, "We're not married!" He said desperately. He could feel Sam's judgmental look burning into his skull.

"I'm sorry that I shame you," she said meekly, looking to the floor again. This only made Sam glare harder.

"Dean, what's wrong with you!?" Sam asked, clearly upset at Dean for whatever he was assuming his brother did.

Dean threw his hands to his temples, trying to rub away the headache that was sprouting back with a vengeance. "You don't shame me! I just….Oh shut it Meg, stop laughing, and Sam this is totally not my fault! Just…just get Gabriel down here. We need to turn the ship around."

Sam normally would have complied, but this was just too perfect to not get the whole crew involved. It served Dean right, marrying someone and forgetting about it…and for the itching powder last week. He ran over to the comm. box.

"This is Sam. We need all personnel in the hold, now" And he hung up, sending Dean a challenging look. Or as Dean calls it, bitchface number 17 the "I'm so clever and my brother is a jerk" face.

"Whoa, whoa! I said Gabriel you big dork! Nobody else is needed for this!" Dean frantically tried to get past Sam to belay the call, but his "little" brother was very effective at blocking things.

"Dean, Dean. Everyone should have a chance to congratulate you on your day of bliss." Sam said seriously, but Dean could see the repressed smirk on his face when his cheek twitched, and it just served to up Dean's headache. He gave up at trying to get to the call box and instead pointed a firm finger in his annoying brother's face.

"There's no bliss here! I don't even know this girl! And you're gonna be cleaning latrines with your smug face if you don't knock that off!" He growled. But Sam's smirk surfaced, not at all worried by his fuming brother.

Meanwhile, Meg was still examining the girl like a new piece of furniture "It's not a bad one Dean. Nice and smooth...clean enough. Maybe you should give it a go before you return it. May turn out you'll like it." Meg noted to herself that the stowaway didn't cower or flinch under her gaze. She might have even detected some flare in the girl's eyes. Interesting…

Dean was about to shoo Meg away when he heard incoming footfalls. From the entrances all around him, the rest of the crew emerged, all with curious faces.

Bobby was the first to spot the girl next to Meg, "Who's the new recruit?" he asked gruffly, assessing the girl. Balthazar was next into the room and gave the girl a different kind of assessment from the preacher, he smiled kindly at her.

Anna and Chuck came from the catwalk, looking merely curious. Gabriel and Cas were the last ones in, the pilot glancing at the girl questioningly, and Cas tilting his head once he had caught sight of her.

Sam merrily stepped in front of Dean to address the crew. He clapped his hands together to get the attention of all of them.

"Everyone, I want you all to meet…Mrs. Winchester." Sam announced loudly. To his credit, he was able to keep a remotely straight face.

At the announcement there were many different reactions. Dean groaned loudly and buried his face in his hands. Gabriel practically fell on the floor laughing. Balthazar looked slightly disappointed. Chuck gasped excitedly, clapping his hands together and bouncing like a little girl. Anna smothered a giggle behind a dainty hand. Bobby's eyes widened before he shook his head in a "I give up" kind of fashion. And Meg's smirk grew.

Nobody caught Cas' expression of sadness. He roamed his eyes over the girl again, looking deeper. And nobody noticed when the expression of sadness morphed into one of caution and dislike.

Chuck was still bouncing, "You got married?! That's wonderful!" He said brightly.

Bobby was just plain baffled, "Well, that's uh…congratulations?" He said searching for the right words while scratching the back of his head.

"Oh Dean, and you didn't even give me a chance to plan a bachelors party! What a shame! I'll have you know I always give the best bachelor parties," said a half smirking-half pouting Balthazar.

Anna smiled softy, like always, "This is special news, Captain. I never thought you would settle down."

A laughing Gabriel finally seemed to come up for air, "We'd always hoped you two kids would get together." He said warmly and moved up to Sam for a hug, "So who is she?"

Dean snapped, "She's no one!"

Behind him the girl burst into tears and the whole crew turns on Dean.

"Captain!" Chuck scolds.

But this was all too much for Dean. Here he was having a good day, he was looking forward to a nice dinner with his friends, and now there was some stowaway on his ship claiming to be his spouse and now she was bawling her eyes out...loudly. Nobody seemed to notice the fact that she wasn't supposed to be here, all they cared about was poking fun at the confused captain.

"Would you stop that!" He reprimanded, trying to get some quiet to stop the growing ache in his head. He would have to ask Cas for a mind whammy if it kept going like this.

The girl stopped crying immediately, mumbling a soft apology and turning her gaze to the floor again, not meeting anyone's eyes. Sam's bleeding heart must have been pumping away at this cause he stepped forward the squeeze her shoulders reassuringly.

"Hey, don't feel bad. He makes everybody cry. He's like a monster." He intoned softly, sending his older brother a dark look. Dean took offense.

"I'm not a monster! Gabriel, turn this ship around!" He ordered desperately. If they were lucky they could get her back where she belonged before dinner time. Off to the side of the uproarious Captain, Bobby moved up to an alarmingly still Castiel.

"Son, I was wondering if you had an encyclopedia by any chance," he whispered into the young man's ear. Cas nodded back slowly and started to lead Bobby back to his nest where he kept all of his new books, never taking his eyes off of the girl until he had left the room.

In between his chuckles and wiping away tears, Gabriel was finally able to answer Dean, "No can do, Cap!" He said merrily.

Dean turned violently towards him, "That wasn't a suggestion." He said in a deadly calm.

Gabriel shrugged helplessly, "It's not that I won't, even though this is fabulous teasing material for the next year, but really we can't turn back."

"WHAT?!"

"Calm down, dude. That patrol ship came with its own mini Garrison armada. Apparently one of the men we shot down was a prefect's nephew." Off of Dean's startled look. "Yeah, I know. One of our friggin' murdering bandits has family ties. Go figure. So unless you feel like walking back to the gallows, I suggest we continue on to Beaumonde, and you…enjoy your honeymoon."

Dean buried his face in his hands again and sat down heavily on one of the nearby crates. "This isn't happening…." His head felt like it was about to split open. Then Gabriel sat down next to him and slapped him on the back in a friendly manner.

"As one non-single individual to another…" He started, wistfully looking over at Sam.

"I'm not married!" He stood up abruptly, almost throwing Gabriel off as well and started pacing. He glanced up at the girl again. She was still timidly standing stiff, not looking up from her feet. Dean started to feel a bit bad for her. The dress she was wearing looked so thin, she must have been a little cold. And now upon closer inspection, she was actually very pretty. Nice wavy hair, light eyes…And here she thought that she was wedded away to someone she didn't even know in a deal that even Dean didn't know about. She was probably suffering as much as he was.

"Listen…I'm sorry. You…you have very nice qualities, but I didn't ever marry you." He told her, trying to get her to look up, but he never saw if her reaction because Bobby and Castiel had come back from wherever they went off to, and now the preacher was holding a large book open in front of him.

"I believe that you might have, actually. Last night." Bobby said absently, flipping through a couple of pages. Castiel was like a statue next to him, not moving at all, eyes back on the girl. Blank expression on his face.

Dean moved over to Sam's side slowly, asking in a low voice to his brother, "How drunk was I last night?" Sam screwed up his face, trying to pull out a memory, but he seemed at a loss and shrugged.

"I dunno, dude. I passed out." He whispered back, eyes wide. Did Dean actually get married?!

Bobby cleared his throat as if prepping his voice for a sermon before he read a piece from the encyclopedia he was holding. "The woman lays a wreath upon her intended…which I do recall our Captain participating in…and this represents sovereignty…And he drinks of her wine…and then there's a dance with the joining of hands." Bobby slammed the book shut with a look of resignation, "The marriage ceremony of the Triumph settlers. You, boy, are a newlywed." He informed Dean, bushy eyebrows raised. The captain absorbed this information for a moment.

"Well what's it say in there about divorce?" Asked Dean after a beat. But this seemed too much for the girl and she ran from the hold, crying anew and heading to who knows where.

They all looked to each other, and then turned to Dean.

"Dean, I think you need to be the one to talk to her." Said Sam softly.

Dean scoffed, "Damn straight. Way I'm seeing it, me and her got only one thing in common. We're the only ones who don't think this is funny." He said and stormed off to try and find his runaway bride.

Castiel scowled as they left, but no one noticed. He knew where she ran off to, so he decided to find her first. Luck for him, Dean had gone in the wrong direction.

 

CHAPTER 4

He caught up to her in the hallway outside of the engine room. She was slowly walking, looking around her at the different levers and switches. To Cas' eye, she looked upon the objects with mild familiarity…not with curiosity like a back-water planet girl would. Squaring his shoulders he silently moved up behind her. He reached out to the ships' glow and sent along a surge.

*Crackle* *Spark*

The light bulbs in the hallway flashed and sparked suddenly, startling the girl. Curiously she did not cower like she had been doing down in the hold, but instead she raised her hands, curled into fists. A fighter, Cas took note. She whipped around to come face to face with a static Cas.

Her face changed like a flipped switch and became timid again, taking on the persona of the mice that used to visit Castiel in the garden, all signs of fight gone in less than a second. She dropped her gaze from the man in front of her. Interesting...

"I…I am sorry. The lights startled me. Am I not supposed to be down here?" She asked quietly.

Castiel regarded her again, eyes roaming over the girl. Calculating, searching. This girl was no mere farm girl. The lights flickered again.

"The names of all of the chosen…are seared into my brain. You are not one of them." He growled out, eyes electric and burning into hers. Her face seemed to harden. Castiel finally saw a non-faked emotion come out of them…fear.

She brought her gaze to be level with his and opened her mouth to speak, but a low shout came from a little ways down the hall, "Hello? Woman…person?" and then a frantic Dean came rushing into sight.

"Jeez. There you are. Thanks for finding her Cas. Listen, I'm real sorry about before." He said as he came forward. He tried to move up to the girl, but Cas was blocking the way in the cramped hallway. He tried to gently move past the unmoving man, but it was like trying to move an anvil.

"Cas?"

Cas turned to Dean, not moving out of the way. "Dean, she is not what she seems."

The captain looked confused, "What do you mean? What is she?" He asked cautiously, glancing in the girls direction. She had lowered her gaze to the floor again like a wounded puppy. Damn did he have a weakness for that look.

"A whore."Cas deadpanned.

Dean blinked, "Wow Cas, tell me how you really feel."

"We need to talk about what's happening here."

"Good, I'm all ears, just let me take care of…um, her first."

"No. She rises when Satan walks the earth, and she will come bearing false prophecy," he insisted urgently, moving right up into Dean's personal space until their chests were almost touching.

Dean rubbed the bridge of his nose. Looked like Cas was having one of his bad days. Who knew the guy would get all territorial over a newcomer.

"Okay Cas, we'll talk about this later. Why don't you go find Bobby or Anna. They might need your unique culinary skills for dinner tonight." He squeezed by Cas, finally managing to get int between the girl and his friend. Then he pulled the girl along with him gently down the hall, leaving a still glowering Cas behind.

Once Dean had gotten them out of sight he turned back to his companion, noting the puffy downcast eyes.

"Hey, you all right? I'm sorry about Cas, he's…he's been through a lot and what he says doesn't always make sense…not at first anyway." He said gently, lowering his head so that his eyes might meet hers.

She sniffed and quietly cleared her voice, probably all clogged up from all of the crying, "I thought…last night during the ceremony that you were…pleased."

Mentally, Dean kicked himelf for getting them both into this situation, "Well, yeah, last night I was. But…I had a lot to drink and a pretty girl gave me a hat made out of a tree….Nobody said I was signing up to have and to hold." He said seriously, voice holding no venom.

She finally looked up, eyes brimming with unshed tears and fear, "Are you going to kill me?"

Dean startled, "What?! What kind of crappy planet is that? Why in the 'verse would I kill you?"

She fiddled with the hem of her dress. Damn she was a nervous little creature. Kind of reminded Dean of Cas when thought he had done something wrong. It was kind of endearing.

"In the maiden home I heard talk of men who weren't pleased with their brides…" She trailed off.

"Yeah, well I ain't one of them! And don't you ever stand for that sort of thing. Someone ever tries to kill you, you try to kill them right back!" Dean shook his head and placed a hand on her shoulder. "Look, wife or not, you are no one's property to be tossed aside. You have the right just like everyone else to live and to try and kill people. I mean…you know…people that are…that is a dumb planet anyway. Wasting good women like that…." Dean trailed off.

The thought boggled his mind. But the idea of someone just giving up their life because someone wasn't pleased with them…it hurt him deeply. Just like it had hurt Dean when Cas had almost given his own life because someone told him that he wasn't wanted. And he wouldn't even touch how pissed Sam was with Gabe at doing the same damn thing. That scolding could be heard all through the ship…even after the yelling part was done.

He was pulled from his musings by the girls soft voice, "What will you do with me then?"

He sighed deeply, "Not entirely sure to be honest. We're headed for Beaumonde at the moment. It's a decent enough planet. We might be able to set you up with some kind of job there." He thought out loud.

Her faces scrunched up in disgust and barely concealed anger, "I'll not be anyone's doxy" She said firmly. Dean smiled at the fire he saw. He was glad to see that she had some fight in her after all. It reminded him of Cas again. Seemingly harmless and innocent, but hiding something fierce and awesome beneath.

He chuckled, "I don't mean whoring. I mean the factories. There are even some ranches if you prefer the outdoors. But it'll be at least a week before we get there. So you have plenty of time to think it over."

She seemed to consider it, mulling over the idea of going someplace new, getting a real job. Dean was proud of her for not breaking down and crying again. It was a pretty scary thing to be handed off to a stranger, and now be looking at being handed over to a foreign planet. All she had been raised to consider was belonging to someone else.

She turned to Dean, a plea in her eyes, "I'd be a good wife." She whispered.

Dean met here eyes sadly, "Yeah, well, I'd be a terrible husband. Trust me. But you have a whole week to figure that out for yourself."

"A whole week…we'll be together?" She asked, a little bit of hope in her voice.

Dean panicked, "Well…we'll be together on the ship, sure. But not in any…."He gestured awkwardly between the two of them.

She laughed. A small and musical laugh that brought a smile to the Captains face, "That'll be fine. I'll do for you…or not…as you choose." She said brightly.

Dean clapped and rubbed his hands together happily. Finally there was some understanding going on. "Well, shiny! Are you hungry? The kitchen's just through here." He said noticing her skinny frame.

She smiled wide, "Oh! I'll cook you something!" And she moves quickly towards the dining area and Dean trails after her.

"Well, no, I meant for you." He said awkwardly. Truthfully he was looking forward to whatever Bobby and Anna had planned. Hopefully him sending Cas to "help" wouldn't hinder anything.

The girl kept on smiling though, "I'm a fine cook. Everyone says so." She told him confidently. Dean was starting to see more personality out of her in the last few minutes than he had in the last hour. It was a nice change.

He called after her quickly moving form, "Well, that's nice. But wait…hold up! I never even…"

She turns around for a short moment and catches his eye, "My name is Bela." She says and then darts ahead to the dining area, leaving Dean in the hallway, trying to process what had just happened.

"Divorce is very rare and requires dispensation from her pastor. I can send him a wave, see what I can do." Bobby said as he came up from behind. He laid a comforting hand on Dean's shoulder.

Dean turned to face him, "I'm grateful to that, I really am."

The preacher nodded and peered down the hall where Bella had run off, "She seems very anxious to please you." He commented casually.

"Well, it's their way I guess," Dean said nodding in agreement. There was a small pause of silence between the two before Balthazar came up behind them.

"Hello all, how goes the domestic dispute?" He asked perhaps a little too casually.

Dean shot him a dirty look, "We talked it over. I told her that we'll find a place for her on Beaumonde, but that we are not actually going to stay married." He informed the newcomer.

Balthazar nodded in understanding before he pointed a finger in Dean's face, suddenly very serious, "You know, if you take sexual advantage of her, you're going to burn in a very special level of hell. Just ask the preacher here. It the level they reserve for child molesters and people who wear white socks with black shoes."

"What?! I am not….Dude, you've got a smutty mind!" Dean sputtered out. As if he would even touch the poor girl after everything she's been through.

"Well perhaps I spoke out of turn, or has Sam not lead me to believe that you chase after damsels in distress? Maybe I shouldn't be concerned with your odd relationship with Cassy."

Dean turned on him, "What? Relationship?! Dude, I haven't touched him, I swear! And I do not just go after damsels! Those girls were totally into me, I was just along for the ride. Besides, I got plenty of distressed individuals on this ship to even consider taking in another! And aren't you the guy who danced with four different girls last night!"

"That's different, they were all experienced individuals. I wasn't taking advantage of anyone there. Plus I believe I passed out before anything truly marvelous could happen. But if you go traipsing off with that girl, you damned well better not step on Cassy on your way out."

"What are you talking about? I haven't forgotten Cas. This has nothing to do with him! I'm just offering her some support."

"Oh, I see. Like a good husband should!"

"I'm not her husband!"

Bobby was looking increasingly uncomfortable between the two men and decided to leave them alone, "I think I'll go make her up a room in the passenger dorm before I start up dinner." He muttered as he darted away.

Balthazar looked Dean in the eye one last time before he too moved off, but not before saying some parting words for the Captain, "The special hell. Remember that."

 

CHAPTER 5

The atmosphere when Dean finally entered the dining area was frigid. He had totally forgotten that Cas might be in here as well, and now the two were at the stove. Anna and Bobby were no where in sight, probably not ready to start the crew's dinner yet. Bela was trying to stir in peace, while Cas chopped at something with a little more force than necessary, eyes never drifting from what she was doing. Dean rolled his eyes and sat down at the table.

"So…uh…anything I can do to help?" He offered, breaking the silence in the room, if not the tension.

"No." They said in unison.

They continued to work in silence, Dean taking the moment to observe the two of them. Cas was holding himself stiffly again, but Dean wasn't sure if it was because he was uncomfortable with Bela, or if it was because his back was hurting him again. He would be sure to ask him about it later. But right now it looked like Cas was a second away from drawing a square on the ground and declaring it his "personal space."

Dean was still trying to calm his racing heart after Balthazar's comment about their "relationship". He was not the first on the ship to hint at something more growing between the Captain and Cas. Dean himself didn't even know for sure what they were. Cas was his first real friend. The first person he could talk to about stuff besides Sam. Cas was his best friend, as odd as he was. But it wasn't just that…sometimes it felt like so much more. However, Dean felt that Cas was still too raw from his time at the Host. He would need to recover and center himself again, and Dean promised himself that he would be there for Cas. He would never hurt his friend, and hopefully Balthazar knew that in some way.

And Dean would also try to help Bela. She had her own troubled past and as Balthazar had said, he was a sucker for distressed individuals. He would see that she found her way. He could never let an innocent flounder.

The two cooks worked around each other, never letting themselves even brush against each other as they reached for a spatula or pan. It was kind of funny to watch their minor acrobatic attempts to avoid each other, but it was bugging Dean that Cas seemed to dislike her so profoundly. Granted Dean hadn't seen him interact with others much, but that party they had attended, Cas seemed charming and welcomed strangers. This was new.

Bela and Cas moved up to the table after a while, each with a plate of offerings and set them in front of the Captain. Neither moved from their spot and waited for Dean to start in on the food. Dean could hardly stand the tension, it was like those cooking programs that Sam used to like watching where Dean was to play judge and would have to choose the best dish and make the loser cry. Luckily Sam and Gabriel chose that moment to move into the kitchen.

"Oooh! Something smells good!" Announced the pilot as he sat down across from Dean, hungrily staring at Dean's plates of food. Sam sat down calmly next to Gabe, posture leaning in to his significant other.

"So Dean, having yourself a little early dinner," asked Sam, eyebrow raised.

"Yeah, well…Bela and Cas insisted, and I didn't want to make them feel…" He trailed off, searching for a safe way to put it. Not coming up with one the shoveled food from the first plate into his mouth. His eyes bugged out, "Bela this is damn tasty!" He informed her, mouth still half full. She smiled brightly and cast a challenging look to Cas beside her. He glared back darkly before turning to Dean.

"I watched her to make sure she didn't add any poison." He informed Dean. Sam and Gabe exchanged confused looks.

"That's….nice of you Cas…Let's see what you cooked up then, huh? I bet it's even better than your sandwiches." Dean said smiling at him and pulling Cas' plate forward for inspection.

It was terrifying. There were two gray globs of…something on his plate. One looked like a mashed up pile of grey matter shot out of a guy's head, and the other looked like moldy jello. He glanced up at Cas, hoping that it was a joke and he really didn't have to eat this. But Cas was waiting eagerly for Dean to take a bite.

Dean filled his fork with a bit from the first glob, waiting for it to start moving on it's own. When it didn't he quickly shoved it in his mouth, trying to swallow it down without having to taste it, but it had a mind of it's own when it got into his mouth and clung to his tongue for dear life.

But he kept a straight face…or tried to. And even managed a small smile at Cas as he tried to not spit out the food. His reward was a huge smile splitting across the other man's face. Finally he was able to choke it back. When he was sure that it wouldn't be coming back up in the next few minutes, he looked back up at Cas, face an awkward shade of red from trying to hold back a fit of coughing. Gabriel's and Sam's faces were also red, from trying to hold back fits of laughter.

"Wow Cas…that was…really special. Thanks."

"You're welcome. I was concerned for a while when I realized that the macaroni was jiggling but the gelatin was not. And then there was the pastry mishap..." He confessed, with a relieved smile on his face. Dean's face blanched.

Cas moved back to the kitchen to clean up his part of the mess, humming happily, and Dean quickly disposed of the rest of Cas' meal before he could notice. Sam and Gabe had seemingly recovered from their amusement and were leaning in to get a closer look at Bela's plate.

Gabriel looked up at Bela, "Is there any more where that came from?" He asked in a friendly tone.

She shyly looked down at the ground again, "I'm sorry. I didn't think to make enough for your friends. But everything is still laid out if you'd like to cook for your partner." She replied.

Sam chuckled at that, "Well, Gabe? How are your culinary skills?" He joked, punching the pilot in the arm.

Gabriel sank back in his chair with a suffering look, "Maybe I'm just not hungry anymore." He mumbled. Sam rubbed his back and smiled warmly. "Bobby will start our dinner soon. I'm sure you won't waste away before then."

"Say's you! I haven't had sugar in a whole hour! My stomach is about to implode! I can already feel it eating itself!" He whined piteously at Sam, who just shook his head and turned back to Dean.

"So…are you enjoying your own little servant girl? Sam commented casually, but Dean could hear the judgment behind the words.

He shrugged it off, "She wanted to make me dinner. At least she's not crying anymore." He muttered, poking at the food in front of him, appetite lost now.

"I hear that man! I wish Sammy- doodle here could make anything besides burnt pasta. I try to keep telling him that the fire alarm isn't a cooking timer, but he just doesn't seem to get it." Mentioned the pilot. He had noticed Dean's change in hunger and reached forward to take away the plate, but Sam slapped his wrist before he would get to it. "Remember that sex we were planning to have ever again?" Sam growled out. Gabriel sat back in his chair heavily, arms across his chest like a grumpy toddler who was told no dessert.

"You guys are all making a big deal of this whole thing. I would appreciate it if someone on this boat didn't assume that I am an evil lecherous hwin dan. I mean, Balthazar is telling me that I'm some kind of…advantage taker…and you guys tell me I'm treating her like a servant. She's just being friendly! I mean Cas even made something for me and you aren't calling him a slave." Whined Dean. (Asshole)

"Yeah Cassy! Why won't you make something for Sam to eat too?" Gabriel shot over at his little brother. Internally the pilot was hoping for a little more revenge for Sam threatening of sexy times.

Cas looked up from the sink where he was washing a plate, "Well, Dean and I share a more profound bond." He informed his brother.

Dean closed his eyes and buried his face in his hands. He prayed that Gabriel wouldn't start thinking along the same lines as Balthazar at that comment. But Sam and Gabe's eyebrows rose to their hairlines and looked between Dean and Cas questioningly.

Cas noticed the exchanges and shrugged helplessly over to Dean, "I wasn't going to say anything."

Sam shook his head, probably trying to rid himself of whatever images had sprung forth and chose instead to reply to Dean's earlier comments.

"Nobody is saying that, Dean." He stated calmly.

Gabriel smirked though, "Yeah, we're pretty much just giving each other significant glances and laughing incessantly. Is that cider?"

Dean nodded to the pilot, "By the stove." He gestured with his chin to the pitcher.

Gabriel shot up from his seat and grabbed Dean's cup, "Yummy! I'll just get you a refill…"

Suddenly Bela is right in front of Gabriel, snatching the glass firmly from the pilots hand. The whole room became silent, save for some odd buzzing from the above light bulbs. The lights seemed to flicker a bit, but it was only barely noticeable.

"That's for me to do," Bela told him softly and moved off to the pitcher. Gabriel sunk back in his chair and gave Sam a significant glance. After she placed the newly filled cup in front of Dean, she moved off back to the kitchen to start tidying up herself seeing as Cas had finished and was joining the others at the table. It might have been the lights being weird, but Dean could have sworn that his eyes were glowing.

"Hey, Cas. Is…is something wrong? You look a little miffed." Dean asked quietly, praying that Cas wouldn't go into a rant over the new girl. But his prayers just weren't going to come true today it seemed. He leaned in over the table to Dean, Sam and Gabe doing the same to listen in.

"She is not one of our chosen. This…creature had the power to take human form…wear many faces, read men and seduce them into believing false prophecies." He told them in a loud whisper.

Dean was about to try and work Cas past this odd dislike he had of Bela, but Sam got a serious look on his face. Gabriel as well.

"What do you think she is trying to do?" Sam asked quietly enough that Bela couldn't hear. Dean stared at his brother, a little pissed that he would play along with Cas in this cruel fashion.

"She manipulates people to spill innocent blood and reap her winnings. She is well on her way to bringing this whole place into the pit." Cas whispered back, just as quietly, eyes intense.

"Cas that is enough! She is just an innocent girl. What is your problem with her?" Dean scolded.

Cas looked like he was about to argue back, but Gabriel stopped him with a protective hand across his chest. "Hey, Cassy. Let's just all calm down, okay? I know you've been having a bad day. We'll keep an eye on her. You just relax and try to feel better, okay?"

Cas didn't say anything, or even nod. He just sat back, glaring at Dean.

Dean however, became concerned. "What do you mean a bad day? You mean the whole Bela thing?"

Gabriel shook his head, a serious look on his face. "His back was hurting him enough earlier that he came to me asking for the "good stuff". I was trying a new technique to help him. Seems a massage helps for a little bit." He informed them. Dean frowned. He could tell that this persistent back problem was a source of worry for Gabriel, and it was fast becoming a real concern for the Captain as well. He made a mental note to keep an eye on Cas and take note when his back started hurting. He didn't like the idea of the other man in pain all of the time.

His attention was drawn by a clanging noise over to where Bella was still puttering around the kitchen. "Hey, um, Bella. This was delicious, but I have to go do some captainly things. So thank you…and ah, feel free to make yourself some grub or wait a bit for Bobby to cook up some dinner…"

She eagerly moved up to Dean, "Do you need anything else?" She asked brightly.

"No. I'm good, just got stuff to do…"

"Well if you're done with supper…would you like me to give you a massage?" She asked shyly.

Dean stared blankly for a beat before swiftly moving out of the room, leaving Cas with his brother and Sam.

Meanwhile, Sam and Gabriel were watching Bella more closely than before. Dean might have been blinded by innocent girl, but when Cas got all fluffed up like a snarling cat…you paid attention.

 

CHAPTER 6

Truthfully Dean didn't have any immediate duties to attend to. Really he just wanted to escape the stifling atmosphere of the kitchen. He knew Bela meant well, and that she was just trying her chances at remaining Dean's wife for as long as possible, but it was making him incredibly uncomfortable. Which was kind of weird. A few months ago Dean might have actually taken the girl up on her offer of a massage, and probably had some witty/charming things to say in return, but the thought of saying something like that now…just felt wrong.

And now he was hearing that Cas had been hurting all day. That also was ten kinds of wrong. But if Gabriel was right, and massages could help them instead of drugs….

Dean changed direction and headed for Anna's shuttle.

 

Anna was sitting in front of her console, looking through the profiles of the next planet, hoping to make an appointment or two before dinner was started. Beaumonde was a large enough port that she felt that there might be some excellent candidates for her to choose from.

She turned when she heard approaching footsteps to her shuttle. She smiled welcomingly when she saw that it was Dean that was arriving. She smiled again when he paused awkwardly in the doorway and tried to search through the flimsy drapes for something solid to knock on.

"Come in Dean." She said, saving him from his search. He gratefully stepped into the room and moved over to one of her couches to sit down heavily.

Anna turned from her console to face him, "To what do I owe the honor?" She asked, a delicate eyebrow raised. Dean fiddled with the fringe on one of the decorative pillows. A sign that he was uncomfortable, she noted.

"Um, I was kinda looking for a place to hide." He said shyly. He and Anna had always had an odd sort of relationship. Before Cas came along, if there was a problem that Dean had and couldn't talk to Sam about it, he had gone to Anna. Anna, who dealt with many a strange customer and probably wouldn't think less of Dean for asking for advice. She had been damn helpful in the past when Dean was still trying to figure out Cas and his odd ways. Of course they had to get by the obligatory ribbing first.

"So I take it the honeymoon's over then?" She asked slyly, leaning back in her chair to get comfy. She had a feeling this could take more than a few minutes.

Dean half smiled at the comment, "Oh, she's a fine girl. Don't get me wrong. Not a bad cook either…I'm sure she'll make a good wife for some guy out there."

Anna nodded, "I'm sure. Although, I'm a bit surprised you're giving her up so easily. Good cook, pretty, and she's all vulnerable. Just how you like them." She looked at Dean silently asking him for an explanation.

Dean snorted. He had just been asking himself the same question. He wouldn't tell Anna that she also had that fire in her that was what really drew him in. Instead he chose to change the subject to what he really came here for.

"Do you give massages to your clients?" He asked. Her eyebrows shot up in surprise before she smiled wickedly.

"Oh, Dean. It's my specialty." She purred. "Why do you ask anyway? I should tell you now, my rates are very high." She teased with a wink.

The captain looked down at his lap and fiddled with a crease in his pant leg. He's nervous, thought Anna.

"Actually it's for Cas." He said quietly. "You know he's been hurting recently, and it's gotten pretty bad. Gabe and I don't want to stuff him full of drugs, so Gabe found another way to help him. Seems that a massage helps a bit, for a little while anyway. So…" he trailed off.

"So…you want me to offer my services?" She asked, voice kind.

Dean fisted his hand and looked up to meet her eyes, completely serious, "Actually I was hoping you could teach me."

This might have surprised Anna in the past, but Dean had changed in the last few months. He had truly started to care for others again. Not just his own little brother. Anna would have been more than happy to help out Castiel in any way she could, but if Dean was willing...

If Dean was the one doing it, she had her suspicions that it would help Cas in more ways than one. She smiled sweetly over to Dean, but not too sweet as to make him uncomfortable.

"Of course. That would be more than fine. I can give you some pointers after dinner, does that sound okay?"

Dean looked relieved, and his shoulders dropped from their stiff position. "Yeah, that works. Thanks."

"Excellent. Now you better get a move on before your wife finds out that you've been hanging around in a companion's quarters." She smirked. Dean smiled back and got up to leave.

Before completely stepping out of the shuttle he called back softly, "Thanks Anna."

As Dean stepped out from the shuttle and closed the door he breathed out a sigh of relief and let himself smile.

"Whoo, that went better than expected." He muttered to himself. He turned around only to flinch back as he came face to face with Meg, who was standing there holding a gun. A very large gun at that. It was probably half her height.

"Semi-sweet chocolate Jesus, Meg! What are you doing sneaking around with a gun like that?" He asked breathless.

She smirked, "No worries Captain. I'm just patrolling the halls is all. Thinking there might be a few more stowaways about. Maybe there is a hot hunk of burning love waiting for me in one of the crates."

Dean rolled his eyes, "Believe me Meg. My stowaway had brought me just a galaxy of fun, I'm here to tell ya. Maybe you're best off with your fancy new cup." He said sarcastically before turning to walk away.

Meg voice called after him thought, "Funny Farm is on edge you know." She made it sound like a warning. Dean swiveled to face her.

"Yeah, I know he's a bit shaky right now. He's just having a bad day." He stated, trying to sound confident.

She snorted and shook her head, "I may not hold his hand like the rest of you do, but I still know enough about him to be cautious when his hackles rise up. That's why I've got my best gun here."

"Da-shiang bao-tza shr duh lah doo-tze! Is that why you have that metal monstrosity out? Are you planning on blowing any trouble you find in half?!" He yelled incredulously, gesturing wildly with one of his hands. (The explosive diarrhea of an elephant)

She looked offended, "Metal monstrosity? Hell, this thing is more beautiful than a hot fudge sundae after a stroll through the desert. It also happens to have extreme sentimental value...I call her Jane." She said affectionately, rubbing her hand over the long barrel.

"Well the days of me not being freaked out by you are certainly coming to a middle."

"Damn it Dean, we don't know a thing about her and Loony Bin is all twitchy. Like I'm about to walk around this tub unarmed at a time like this." She growled.

Dean shook his finger in her face, "Listen. She hasn't done anything wrong. She's just lost the only home she had ever known and got stuck with us here. Now she has to adjust to a whole new life. The last thing she needs is an armed crew walking around treating her like a murder suspect. She doesn't know a damn thing about this world and she needs out protection."

"I will protect myself." Meg stated, not cowed in the least.

Dean sighed, "Go play with your cup, Meg." And Dean walked away, heading down the stairs leaving Meg to her own devices.

 

Dean bounded down the stairs, thinking on what Meg had said. And then he thought to what Cas had said earlier. Did he have to worry about Bela? He thought back to a few weeks ago when Cas had smashed one of the radios to pieces, saying that it was possessed when it started playing static. Then he thought about the time Cas walked backwards for two whole days because he thought he was being followed. Or what about the vacuum cleaner incident? Should he throw away decency because of Cas' cryptic warnings that could possibly be nothing?

He was thinking so hard that he almost ran right into a very still Bela in the hallway.

"Gah! You…you certainly sneak about, don't you." He stuttered out, trying to appear calm and not at all like he had almost had a heart attack.

She smiled kindly at him, "You're a good man." She stated, tilting her head to the side, bangs falling in her face in a flattering kind of way. The comment and head tilt reminded Dean of Cas in a sharp jolt, it was getting kind of eerie how his thoughts kept on going back to Cas when she was around.

Dean cleared his throat awkwardly, "Clearly you haven't been talking to anyone else on this boat." He let out a half-hearted chuckle. She stared at him for a moment, face serious.

"I have thought about your offer…about working on the ranch. If we're…if I'm not to be yours, then I think I should like that." She mumbled out.

Dean reached out a hand to put on her shoulder in a reassuring manner, "It's good work. My family had a ranch a long time ago, before…well, before all of this. We had some cows and chickens…. My Dad used to tell me: don't brand the cattle, brand the buyer; he's the one who'll stray."

"Your Dad sounds like a smart man."

"Oh he was. But Sammy always gave him a run for his money. This one time…" He trailed off. "Well that's odd."

Bela looked up at him curiously, "It's just…I'm not one to talk about my past, and here you have me…"He made a gesture like he was puking.

Bela continued to look up at him, head slightly tilted…like Cas did when he was confused, "Doesn't your crew ever show interest in your life?" She asked innocently.

"Well, Sam talks enough for the both of us. But our history, its our history, little too dark for dinner talk. But what about you? What's your story?"

She shrugged it off, "Nothing much to say. I bet you'd find it pretty dull compared to yours."

"Oh, you have no idea how much I long for a little dullness. Truth is…things might have been getting a little too interesting these last few months." He joked, thinking to how his life had been turned upside down since he opened that box…But then again, he also hadn't felt this alive in years.

 

Sparks flew around like flies and everywhere there were loud clangs and bashes as metal was pounded into shape or torn apart. The entire room smelled of metal and ozone. The chop shop was filled with ship's innards, strewn about as the workers gutted each and every last bit of the boats.

At the front of the shop, two men were looking over a set of schematics on a monitor. It showed a close-up of a firefly model on the screen. The glow from it lighting up the dirty faces of the men.

"It's a wreck." Stated the first one bitterly.

The second one shook his head in disagreement, "No. This is a good find."

"It's just parts. A lot of cheap parts that we'll never be able to unload", whined his companion.

The man heaved a great sigh, "And this is why you'll never be in charge. You don't see the whole. The parts are crap, but you put it together and you have a firefly. That old make was built to last. Not like the dinky new models that crumple up and break down with a strong gust. That thing will run forever if they have a mechanic that's even half awake."

His friend whined again, "But it's got no flash! T'aint even shiny!"

"I'm not looking for flash. So when she comes this way, you prep those nets." He stated calmly, but his eyes were sparking with hunger and excitement over the upcoming hunt.

 

CHAPTER 7

Sam and Gabriel had come to track down Castiel later that night, who had been sulking around the boat, muttering about stupid fish always latching on to the hook. They had tried to coax the reasoning behind Cas' dislike of the girl out, but he was making less sense that usual, and he was damned agitated as well, glaring rudely at Sam and his brother.

"Cassy-bear, we need to know why you think the girl is dangerous. If you tell us then we can talk to Dean about it. We can make it better." Gabriel had tried to reason, but Cas was scowling like a moody teenager who thought no one listened to him.

"Cas, please. If you think we should be concerned, then tell us." Sam tried when Gabriel got no response. Cas had backed up into the wall, as far as he could, pressing up as hard as possible upon the cold metal, staring up at the ceiling with a helpless look. Both pilots moved in closer.

"She lures you in with smiles and promises... A siren to draw the boat into her net. The Whore of…." He trailed off suddenly, squeezing his eyes shut in pain. "Gabriel my back," he moaned piteously, pushing off the wall to move up to his stunned older brother and burying his face into his neck.

Sam and Gabriel exchanged looks. With a nod from the other man as he held his brother tight, Sam turned, heading to the infirmary for the "good stuff".

 

They caught up with Dean later after giving Cas a strong dose and sending him off to relax, both wearing twin expressions of worry. Dean caught the looks right away.

"Guys, what's wrong? Is Cas okay?" He asked, eyes darting between the two, his panic at the expressions immediately jumping to Cas in concern. He knew the other two well enough to know when they were worried about one of their own.

Deciding the best approach to this would be honesty Sam looked straight into his brother's eyes unflinchingly, "He's…he's not doing too great, Dean. Either it's an episode brought on by the pain he's in or the girl…or maybe we should really be concerned about something else entirely."

"Something else?" questioned Dean. The pain and dealing with a new person on board he could see, but was there anything else?

"Yes, something else. Are you just ignoring the fact that Cas is on edge around her?"

"My money is on an episode." Balthazar's voice drifted in from behind, followed by a less than elegant snort, "I don't think Cassy likes the idea of some strange girl encroaching on his Captain."

"What are you talking about?" Dean demanded, crossing his arms over his chest.

Balthazar leaned against the wall casually, brushing off some invisible lint from his shirt, "I'm just saying…all this talk of whores…boats going into nets, luring in, seduction…it sounds like Cas is spouting metaphors for the horizontal tango."

"Or you just have a potty brain," Gabriel snarled. Balthazar shrugged nonchalantly.

"I don't have a dirty mind, just a sexy imagination." He stated.

"So…Cas is trying to keep Dean from having sex with her?" Sam asked awkwardly, trying to make sense of it all.

Gabriel snorted, "Maybe he smells an STD on her and doesn't want to have to heal it for Dean later."

Dean bristled, "Why does everyone think I'm going to sleep with her!?" The three men gave him looks. Dean shut up, but Balthazar was still glaring at him.

"Or maybe Cas and you have a little something going on after all, and you think just because he's a little flighty that you can play around." He snapped, venom in his voice. Sam and Gabriel turned to the Captain, but Gabriel was the first to say anything.

"Dean-o! You never told me you and Cassifras hooked up! Congrats!" He cheered.

"We never…I wouldn't….I'm not sleeping with anyone, okay! All of you just chill out. I'll talk things over with Cas later to try and figure out what's up. Will that make everyone happy?" He growled, glaring at each of them, but Sam wasn't affected by the look, glaring defiantly right back. Go figure.

"Dean, what about at dinner? That girl is clearly a little off," he tried to reason. He really wasn't sure why Dean was so dead set on believing the girl's story. His brother was oozing instinct on a regular basis, was she really not tripping any red flags?

"She's led a sheltered life," Dean said defensively. He had just been talking to Bella about their childhoods. He had actually taken a chance to get to know her. Sam couldn't say he'd done that. Why were he and Cas so quick to distrust her?

"What about when she grabbed that glass from me?" Gabriel reminded him.

Dean rolled his eyes at them both, "Every planet has its own weird customs. Gabe, don't you remember that planet a few years back where they made a feast for the monkeys every week? Or Sam, that place where they have camel wrestling as the principal form of recreation? Maybe Bela's world has a thing for pouring drinks." It sounded weak, even the Dean's ears.

Sam and Gabriel roll their eyes as well, in perfect unison. Clearly Dean was letting them hang out together too much.

"Oh, but Captain, you shouldn't be babysitting a damn groupie anyway. Not when you already have Cassy," hissed Balthazar sarcastically.

Dean backed up defensively, putting his hands up, "Okay, when did this become not funny to you guys. A few hours ago you were practically wetting your pants over my predicament."

Sam stepped forward, "When you didn't turn around and put her back on Triumph where it belongs."

"Oh, hey! You know that was impossible." Dean spat back, finger pointed at Sam's chest.

"She's trouble, Dean."

"I'm getting that," He yelled angrily. Everyone went silent, watching as Sam and Dean glared at each other.

Sam finally spoke after an uncomfortable moment, "I'm going to the bridge." He growled out like a warning for all others to stay away, and then moved away from the group.

"Sam…" Dean tried, but his brother didn't turn around.

Gabriel mumbled something about going to bed before walking off, and Balthazar parted as well, but not before sending Dean one more dirty look.

What the hell just happened?

 

Was he in the freaking Twilight Zone or something? Since when was Sam the leader in the case against someone who hadn't even done anything wrong? He had practically condemned Bela after one weird interaction. Usually it was Sam who defended the innocent until proven guilty, not the other way around. It was ten kinds of weird.

And then there was Balthazar. The guy was acting like Dean had cheated on his little sister and he was trying to defend his sibling's honor. Of course Dean was worried about Cas, but for all of their concern with Bela, no one seemed to be doing anything about her. So it was up to him to deal with their stowaway.

He was thinking about how he would approach Cas later, how he was going to deal with Bela for the next week, and how he would make Sam hate him less as he walked down the corridor towards his quarters. It had been a really long day. There was no way that he could fix anything tonight. He climbed down his latter, eyes already at half mast, and started to idly unbutton his shirt as he walked further into the room, his thoughts still tumbling around in his head.

But then he caught sudden movement out of the corner of his eye, "Gah!" There was Bela laid up in his bed, clearly very naked beneath Dean's thin white sheet. He could see almost everything under it with the lighting in the room. He tried to avert his eyes.

He started to panic, "You're, uh…uh…well, there you are." He gestured with jerking motions, trying his best not to gesture to any indecent part of her while also trying to look anywhere in the room besides her. His crew might think of him as some horny bastard, but even he had some class.

She sweetly ran a hand over his bed coverings, her own eyes also averted as if she were shy. "I've made the bed warm for you." She whispered.

Dean nodded, eyes to the ceiling, "Yeah, it looks, uh, warm." This was beyond awkward. All thoughts and warnings to her being dangerous flew from his brain and blood started pooling in other areas.

Finally Dean looked down to meet her eyes, and her eyes met his…not as shyly as before. "And I've made myself ready for you." She offered, a small smile on her face.

Mentally Dean slapped himself back to reality, as scary and fleshy as reality was at the moment, "Let's ride right past the part where you explain what exactly that means. Um, didn't you see that you got a room of your own?" He said out of clenched teeth, he was doing his best to keep smiling all friendly like. Really he had never been this uncomfortable before.

"And I am to sleep there?" She asked timidly. Her eyes had dropped to her lap again.

Again, Dean nodded enthusiastically, "That's the notion. Assuming that you're…yeah. Sleepy."

She looked up at him, a small confused frown on her face, just like the ones that Cas had when Dean tried to explain some new concept to him, "But we've been wed. Aren't we to become one flesh?" She asked.

Dean panicked, "Well, no, uh…We're still two fleshes here, and I think that your flesh ought to sleep in your own room." He tried to usher her out of his bed without moving to make any contact of any kind. He prayed that Cas didn't pop in here all of a sudden. He wasn't sure why of all things he was worried that Cas would find him, and not Sam or Balthazar, but he would think on that later. Right now he had a very unclothed individual in front of him.

Bela had the decency to look a little abashed, "I'm sorry. When we had talked earlier…and shared those stories I'd hoped, but I don't…" She moved to stand finally, the sheet dropping dangerously low.

"Whoa, hey! Flesh…" Dean almost ran forward to help her cover herself, but though better and turned his back to her instead, "Listen, Bela. It isn't a question of pleasing me. It's more a question of what's morally right."

From behind him he heard her voice, "I know my bible. On the night of their betrothal the wife shall open to the man as the furrow to the plow. He shall work in her again and again, till she bring him to his full. And rest him then upon the sweat of her breast."

Dean swallowed hard at the end of her description. No wonder Bobby was able to read that book again and again if it had passages like that one. Somewhere in the back of his mind he wished that he could have used that line for Sammy way back when the kid was growing up. When Dean had noticed Sam hanging in his room more often than not, locking the doors, he had become suspicious. Then when Sam had brought a female friend home to "do homework" Dean had come to the conclusion that Sam had reached "that age". Looking back he might not have handled it in a mature fashion…perhaps throwing Sam a couple magazines and a box of condoms and a mumbled "Make sure you use them right" wasn't the best choice. But he grew up okay, right?

Dean half turned back to her, eyes still wide, "Whoa. Good bible. Wish I knew that verse growing up…" he tried to joke, but somehow she had gotten right up into his personal space while he had been in memory land.

"I'm sorry that I'm not as pleasurable to look upon as…" She started, eyes dropping to the ground again.

Dean stopped her with a hesitant hand on her bare shoulder, "Bela, you're pleasing. All kinds of pleasing, and it's been a while…damn long while since anyone took hold of…my plow, so don't think for a second that you aren't pleasing…it's just…" He trailed off, not sure how to explain everything to her.

"Is it that other man? The odd one in the trenchcoat?" She tried.

Dean's head shot right up, "Cas? No, we aren't…he's special to me. But as you've noticed…he's struggling with something right now, and I'm there for him…just not in that way."

"And will you still need to be there for him when his struggle is done?" She asked, small hesitant smile on her face. Dean stared for what may have been a moment too long. She seemed like a genuine and sweet girl. One that not too long ago Dean would have been all over by now. So why was he now comparing her smile to Cas'?

Dean swallowed hard, "I'll always be there for him."

She cast her eyes down, "I see then…He is very lucky to have you, but...Can you at least…can I at least get a kiss from you? I…I never have gotten one before and I truly wish that my first one be with a good man like you."

The request was so simple, a lot less than what she had been asking for before. It was just so innocent to his ears.

"Leave me at the nearest port. Never look upon me again. I'll make my way with the strength that you've taught me. Only…let me please have this." She didn't wait for a response or motion from Dean, she just moved in and placed her lips upon Dean's. In his mind Dean felt sick. It was quick, and they had barely been in contact for more than a second before Dean pulled back abruptly, wanting to end it.

"Listen Bela, it's not that simple…" He was cut off as she dove in for more, this time crushing their lips together. Dean shoved her off the second time, wiping at his now tingling lips. The tingling seemed to travel like lightening. Soon his limbs began to feel numb, his mind went foggy and his sight became hazy.

He looked up to where Bela stood in confusion. As his sight started to dim even further he was able to make out her blurry smirking face before he fell to the ground.

"Son of a…"

Thud

Bela stood over the downed Captain, all shy and timid qualities gone.

"Sleep well, honey."

 

CHAPTER 8

Castiel was drifting through the corridors. He had ripped off the socks from his feet in a moment of rebellion. Who was Dean to tell him how to dress if he was too sidetracked by some busty lying snake leading them to complete and utter destruction. So he may be shivering slightly from the cold metal floors and his toes may have lost feeling, and maybe the soles of his feet are getting torn up a bit, but it matters little in the end. If they were all going to spiral into death, who cared if his feet were a little scuffed up.

He chose to ignore the pang that came every time he thought of how Dean was not listening to him. It was not of import. What mattered now was trying to keep his chosen alive. Perhaps he would try talking to Sam again. He was logical. Maybe he would see the danger, even if Dean couldn't. He was about to walk to where Sam's pulsing glow was emanating from when he felt the brush of the Impala's breath along his neck. She was calling him somewhere. So he chased after her.

 

The control room was quiet, the only sound heard besides his own breathing was the soft ping of the radar off to his left. It was soothing, and that's exactly why Sam chose it. He had a lot of thinking to do, but it was damn hard to concentrate when he was so frustrated.

Dean was right to be confused. When did this become not funny? Sam had been laughing with Gabriel over this whole scenario till tears came streaming down their faces just a few hours earlier. The girl hadn't done anything wrong besides be a little creepy in the kitchen. She seemed perfectly innocent, and Dean seemed to trust her. The only thing that sent Sam's nerves a flutter over this…was Cas.

This was new to Sam. He was taking a crazy person's suspicions to heart over trusting his brother's instincts that had rarely been wrong. Ever since Dean opened up Cas' box, he had been taking stray people like Sam used to do with injured animals. Cas, the man turned monster, and now this Bela character, not to mention the other new additions to the crew. It all had started when they had taken on passengers at Persophone. As much as Sam was glad to adopt in the new crew, establish a patch-work family…he couldn't shake the look in Cas' eyes at dinner. Blatant distrust.

Sure, Balthazar could be right and Cas was just being protective, or dare he even think it…territorial. He and Dean had become oddly close lately, and so far they had been nothing but good for each other. In fact, Gabriel had started up a bet between some of the crew of when the two would stop being all dewy and get some real moisture going on. Even Bobby had put in a wager, Sam thought with a chuckle.

Whatever it was between them, Sam still had concerns over the girl. Perhaps this whole thing was Cas not being ready to give up the one person who had clicked with him. Or Cas was right and they were harboring a murdering whore…or a fisher…or whatever Cas had been calling her. Either way, they were looking at a rough time ahead.

Sam heaved a large sigh and leaned back in the pilot's chair, rubbing his hands over his tired face. He only just gotten rid of his hangover headache only to start a new one with all of this analyzing. Not cool.

A soft rustle behind him had him swirling around in his chair so fast he almost fell out of it. Bela had just entered the control room, her own bare footed steps were so quiet upon the metal flooring that Sam had no idea that she was approaching, leaving him flustered at the sudden arrival.

"Oh! Um, hey. Weren't you supposed to be in bed?" He asked, trying his best to not sound suspicious. She had her hands behind her back coyly, one of her bare shoulders peeking out from her dress again. She was pretty, he had to give her that.

"Am I allowed to be up here?" She asked from under hooded eyes. She sounded hesitant, almost like she was expecting to be scolded, but she didn't wait for an answer before moving up further into the room to look out at the stars, gently brushing by Sam as she walked by, perhaps a little more contact than was necessary.

"I've never been off-world before." She said wistfully and turned to Sam while hugging herself tightly. It made the small mounds of her breasts push up in her shirt, making them all the more visible to Sam who wasn't sure if it was intentional or not.

Blushing slightly he nodded, trying to keep eye contact, "Um, yeah. Its pretty cool."

She smiled at him, "Almost like a dream." Her eyes caught his own and Sam could see a fire in there. It was maybe starting to look like Cas was being literal in his descriptions for once and Balthazar was right. All of the accusations were metaphors for sex. She was a whore after all!

Sam was smiling dumbly to himself for finally figuring out what the hell was going on in this boat. At least they weren't housing a serial killer or anything. He was so distracted that he didn't notice Bela closing the door to the room and moving closer, it was only when she draped herself over Sam and the chair that he took notice.

"Wha…what are you doing?" He asked, now nervous. Slowly he started to move his hand towards his gun, but one of her legs was in the way, on accident or on purpose, he wasn't sure.

Meanwhile she had started trailing her finger over his chest, "Now we're alone. Just us and the stars. No ship, no bellowing engines, no crew to bicker at each other….Do you know the myth of earth-that-was?" she asked suddenly, now playing with Sam's hair.

"Not so much," Sam ground out awkwardly, now trying to slowly trigger the comm. box next to the chair without her noticing. Hopefully she would remain distracted until someone heard what was going on and came to intervene. This was awkward enough as it was, but he thought it best to keep this sex maniac away for now.

Bela shifted again, pressing herself against Sam's arm that had been reaching for the call box, effectively stopping him from calling anyone. "It goes that when she was born, she had no sky, and was open, inviting. And the starts would rush into her, through the skin of her. Making the oceans boil with sensation. And when she could endure no more ecstasy, she puffed up her cheeks and blew out the sky." She recited, voice soft and low.

Sam tried to adjust awkwardly below her as his limbs started to lose feeling, "Um, yeah. Good myth. Do you think that you could…"

Suddenly she was pushing him back, voice full of need and desperation, "Please, show me the stars!" She was trying to kiss him he realized with a jolt. Unthinkingly he shoved her away before she could touch her lips on him. He also ended up knocking himself to the floor in the mad scramble to get away.

"Wuh duh ma huh tah duh fong kwong duh wais hung, I'm really sorry about that, but you can't just go around…doing stuff like that." Sam's mind was flying a thousand miles a minute. Maybe Elder Gomman had sneakily wedded off this nutcase to finally rid the town of its resident sex addict or something. (Holy mother of God and all her wacky nephews)

"I was too forward?" She asked, looking a little bit miffed.

"Yes! I mean…well, yes. And um… I'm already with someone…as were you I thought." This was just too weird, even by Winchester standards.

"Captain Winchester sent me away. I thought that maybe…you would like a woman instead of…that other man. I heard it's hard for some men to find women out here in the black and have to make do with whomever they find."

Sam bristled, "It's not like that. Gabriel is very special to me. Not everyone gets me and Gabe at first glance, but…" He trailed off and Bela finished for him.

"You love him very much." Sam nodded to her and turned to open up the door again, distracted by his thoughts on Gabriel.

"Yeah," he answered emphatically. He had never actually said as much to Gabe yet. Not even in their most intimate moments…but he felt it. "I never did meet anyone quite like him before. The uh, first time we met, he actually…"

BAM!

As soon as his back was turned Bela had snuck up behind him to deliver a roundhouse kick to his head. A very impressive feat considering how tall her victim was. The damn giant was being difficult and she couldn't even get him to ingest any of the poison on her lips, she rolled her eyes in disgust. Now he would have to pay the price for making her have to work harder. She kicked him once more for good measure before setting to work.

First she rushed to the control panel, zoning in on the ship's navigation system, and she shorts it out with a quick flip of a switch. Pulling the metal covering off of one of the panels, she quickly starts splicing wires. Once that taken care of she turned back to look at Sam lying half in the doorway.

"Now this will never do." She tsked and went to grab his legs.

After considerable huffing and puffing on her part, she managed to pull Sam into the corridor. This time when she walked by him again her kick to his side was weaker. Dragging his heavy butt around was damn tiring for a girl, she thought bitterly. She pulled out a strip of special tape from her shoe and places it in the doorframe before igniting it and shutting the door, welding the whole frame shut.

Satisfied that the hard part was done, she started off to the catwalk where the shuttles were docked and ready for her to steal. She let sneer cross her fine features.

Dashing across the catwalk, Bela was starting to feel like she was home free. This job had been a wacky one, but it would end soon enough. Reaching the shuttle that didn't house the Companion, she reached for the door, only to have it open from the inside and the strange trechcoated man stepping out.

She took a small moment to observe his eyes. She hadn't noticed it before, but they were a very strange sort of blue that seemed to glow in this lighting. It was eerie enough without them bearing into her very being, as if judging her very inner core. She stepped back, lowering her gaze to the floor, like a beta wolf lowering its head in the presence of an alpha.

He stared at her a moment longer, "Are you lost?" he asked, not at all sounding concerned, more condescending if anything.

"I'm…I'm sorry. I was just…wandering." She stuttered out falling back into her act.

He seemed to ponder this thoughtfully, "So was I. Usually I prefer to wander around corridors, but for whatever reason this particular shuttle was calling out to me tonight. Do you know why that is?"

She decided to play along. It seemed to work well enough for the other crew members when they spoke to the frazzled man, "Perhaps it was in a social mood?" She tried, rolling her eyes sarcastically behind her curtain of hair.

"I like to think it's because the ship likes me."

This would take too long. She wasn't about to riddle her way past this guy like he was a sphinx guarding a treasure. She would do what she was best at. She did a quick calculation and pulled out her favorite weapon; seduction.

"I bet it does. Everyone here likes you…I like you too." She looked up at him, batting her eyelashes prettily. He looked back at her warily.

"I do not believe you do."

"What? Of course I do. But...You don't like me?"

The man gave her a hard look, "I do believe that I have given you enough evidence to come to the conclusion that, no, I do not like nor trust you." He stated firmly.

She moved in closer to him, while also trying to keep his hands where she could see them. This guy was putting her on edge. He looked pathetic, but for whatever reason her gut was telling her to watch out. She searched her memory bank for the name Dean had used for this one.

"Oh, but Cas. We could be such good friends, you and I. I could do so much for you. I could do things to you that I bet you have not even thought of doing before. Are you as crazy in bed as you are out of it?" She purred, hand trailing over the lapels of his coat.

Suddenly his hand shot out, grabbing onto her wrist tightly, his gaze never breaking from her, but expression remaining blank.

"I do not believe you behavior is becoming of a newly wed." If she wasn't so nervous, she might have appreciated the smoldering look and gravelly voice, but she needed to end this, and fast. It wouldn't be long before someone noticed something amiss.

Launching herself forward, she latched her lips onto Cas', holding him there as long as she dared, hoping that he would absorb the poison faster. After a few seconds, she finally pulled back, breathing heavily and waiting for her prey to collapse…only he didn't.

Castiel was standing there, a bewildered look on his face as he wiped at his lips. His eyes widened momentarily before he pushed forward and pulled her in for another kiss. Bela was too shocked to do anything about it and stood stock still until finally he broke it off, wiping at his lips again as if there was a bad taste.

"I learned that from the pizza man." He stated proudly.

Internally Bela was freaking out. This guy, after two strong doses, was still standing…and coherent to boot. This guy should be foaming at the mouth and choking on his own tongue at this point. What the hell was this guy's deal?!

"Who are you?" She asked breathlessly.

"Castiel. Guardian of the ship. And you?"

Then there was a loud blaring around the ship as an alarm went off, distracting both Cas and Bela.

She turned to her opponent, smirking dangerously, "Dean Winchester's widow."

Using Castiel's momentary shock at the declaration, she brushed past him and dove into the shuttle, locking the door behind her and starting up the engines. She was already undocking by the time Castiel started to tear down the corridors, looking for his Captain.

 

CHAPTER 9

Castiel rounded the corner and ended up right outside of the bridge when he saw Sam. The sight caught him completely by surprise. He had been feeling a strong sense of foreboding…but not the usual spark that shocked him into awareness when one of his friends was hurt or in danger. Seeing Sam's condition was a jarring edges of his eyes blurred for a moment, making him stumble back and catch himself on the wall.

Somewhere among the roaring in his ears he heard Gabriel's cry of distress when he came into the corridor to see Sam on the floor.

"Sam? Sammy? Baby, wake up….He's bleeding!" He cried looking up at Castiel.

Then Bobby poured into the room. "What's going on?" asked the Preacher, but then his eyes fell on the younger Winchester and he dropped to his knees next to Gabriel who was cradling Sam's head. Right away he knew what needed to be done and he lay a steadying hand upon the pilot's shoulder.

"Snap out of it, son. Just get your mojo kicking and heal him up," he said in a gruff voice, but it wasn't lacking its own kind of warmth and sympathy. It was exactly what Gabriel needed to pull out of his shock and move his hands to the injury to heal it all up.

Castiel observed this through the haze until he felt himself drifting off, but then a stab to his heart reminds him that somewhere Dean could be in trouble, so he shakes his head violently and continues further down the corridor to try and find Dean. Totally ignoring Bobby's concerned call after him.

Bobby almost moved to chase after Cas as he went down the hall, but he stopped when he looked back to Gabriel's panicked face and Sam's weak stirrings. He would be needed here for the moment. Hopefully the Castiel's pale features were just out of concern for Sam…and not something worse.

He was searching frantically for the glow of Dean on the ship. He didn't know why it was so difficult to zone in on the familiar warmth. He wouldn't let himself believe it was because it had faded…or even worse, gone out. Instead he followed logic to Dean's room. It would make sense that he would be here. It was his bedtime after all.

As he moved down the crew dorm hallway he started to sway dangerously and his vision kept on blacking out, but he was able to stumble his way to Dean's hatch, straining to push open the metal door.

He wasn't sure how he got down the ladder. He could have fallen the whole way down for all he knew, but he was at the bottom and Dean was in here…and he was laying face down on the floor unmoving.

"No. No. No. No. Dean? Dean?! DEAN!?" His voice got higher and louder with each cry as he tried to rouse the Captain. He couldn't see the glow anywhere. Had he been too late? Did he fail to protect his charge? Was he alone?

He pulled Dean's head into his lap, his vision graying enough that it was getting harder to make out Dean's handsome features. His head was starting to feel like one of those balloons that Gabriel used to get for him and tie around his wrist, trying to fly away but held back because it was attached to Castiel.

He could feel a burning heat in his eyes, and he knew that tears were starting to fall. But it all felt so distant. Usually his emotions consumed him, but right now it felt like they all belonged to another person. He ran his fingers along Dean's jaw, sniffling as the first tears fell onto the Captain's face.

Then Dean moaned, flinching when the wet tears landed on his skin, jerking Castiel back to his fuzzy reality.

"Renci de fuzu." he sobbed out and cupped Dean's face in his hands completely overwhelmed in relief. He didn't even stop think before he touched his lips to Dean's in a quick and chaste kiss. Then he pulled back and Tryied to gain some sort of bearing on what was wrong by placing two fingers on Dean's head, trying to look for injury…but he still couldn't feel anything. It was like there was a thick fog covering the wavelength he usually followed to assess the glow. He could do nothing to help him. (translation:Thank God…or Buddah I think…)

He couldn't heal, let alone locate the injury with this fog blocking him. So he clumsily tried to pry himself away from Dean and get to the ladder to call for help. He was sad to be useless at a time like this, but he would at least make sure Dean was taken care of. He didn't notice the tingle intensify on his lips.

"Gabriel…Gabriel! Dean's hurt." He called up the ladder, unable to pull himself up it. Dean continued to moan from across the room and Cas crawled over to him again to keep an eye on the Captain until Gabriel could come. For whatever reason his limbs felt like someone was adding weights on to them, five pounds at a time. It took almost all of his strength to crawl back to Dean's side.

Upon reaching the downed man, Castiel tried again to focus on Dean's features to maybe identify the injury that caused his unconscious state with his normal vision, but all that he could make out in the fog was a slight sheen of metallic moisture on Dean's lips. Without even thinking about it, he reached out to touch it.

His fingers came back, feeling slightly greasy. Somewhere in his hazy mind it registered with him that this was unusual. His fingers started to tingle, and then went numb, and then a small light of understanding clicked in his mind among the mist like a weak flashlight.

"Oh!" And then he passed out on Dean's chest.

 

The first thing he thought when he became aware was how much his head hurt. Was the universe getting some sick kicks with making his head feel like it had been smashed with a frying pan? Sam would say it was some kind of karma for drinking enough to get hungover in the first place.

The next thing that registered in Dean's mind were the voices in the room. A lot of voices. Way more than he was comfortable having hover over him. His eyes shot open, just to slam shut again as the light on the ceiling of his bedroom blinded him.

"Whoa…how much did I drink?" He asked the blurry face of Gabriel kneeling over him.

"Well, he's back. How ya feeling Cap?" Gabriel asked, and Dean could swear that he was speaking that loudly on purpose. He moaned in response, turning his head to see the entirety of his crew sitting or leaning about the room, but his mind was too frazzled for any of their appearances to register.

"What the hell happened to me?" he asked the pilot.

He shrugged nonchalantly, "Your blushing bride was a plant it seems. Took all three of you out." He sounded casual, but there was a hardness in his voice that had Dean panicking and sitting up abruptly to scan his crew again.

First he sought out Sam. Noting his brother leaning against his ladder, looking perfectly fine. He relaxed marginally. Then he looked to each of the rest of his crew. Bobby, Anna, Balthazar, Meg…. Hmm, no Chuck…"Where's Cas?"

Gabriel froze next to him before reluctantly shifting his position to the left so that Dean could see past him. The Captain's gaze immediately zoned in on Cas' limp form on his bed.

He tried to shoot up from the floor, only to become slumped against Gabriel and Sam who rushed to keep him on his feet. He brushed them both away once his world stopped spinning, his eyes never leaving the still form of Cas and then moved to his side, looking for any sign of injury as he went.

It had hit Dean a while ago that seeing Cas in any sort of unconscious state set all of his warning bells off, even sleep. It may have been natural for anyone else, but it was completely unnatural and just…wrong to see Cas like that. He had developed such a dislike of Cas closing his eyes that even his odd unblinking staring thing was welcome to Dean.

First he tried to rouse him, tapping on his cheek and shaking his shoulders. No reaction. Dean's heart plummeted. Desperately he tried again,more roughly and shaking Cas until his head slumped to one side with the jarring movements, but then he remained completely still. Dean couldn't see anything visibly wrong on Cas body, so why was he like this?

"What the hell happened to him?" he asked in a horrified whisper.

Balthazar spoke up, "We aren't entirely sure just yet. But you on the other hand we are assuming a narcotic compound. Probably spread over a seal on her lips. You get it on yours, and pow. Out like a light." He said, voice dead. His own gaze never wavered from his little brother. Clearly he was feeling like a complete douche for not listening to his little brother, just like Dean did.

Meg raised an eyebrow, "Lips, huh?" She said slyly, smirking like always.

"Yeah, we used to find a couple of them at some parties I used to attend. Guys passed out in dark corners. Usually robbed, very groggy. They called it the "goodnight kiss". Completely harmless if used right. Deadly if used wrong." Balthazar continued to stare, as if all the spit and fire gone from him.

"So…kissing…." Sam said, voice full of meaning.

Balthazar grunted, it was probably meant to be a laugh."Isn't that…special?" Perhaps not all the fire was gone.

Dean ignored him, still panicking over the too still body, "But…what about Cas?"

Nobody seemed to have an answer, but thankfully at that time Cas started to shift and moan, signaling that he was finally coming back to the land of the living.

"Cas! Hey, take it easy. How are you feeling?" Dean asked, hand going to support Cas' head as he tried to raise it.

"Ugh…That was most unpleasant."

"Cassy, what happened to you? Why were you unconscious?" Asked Gabriel as he too moved up to his little brother. Coming down that ladder earlier after hearing his little brother's call only to find two very still bodies in the room...it had shocked his already frazzled nerves after Sam. He had pounced on Cas first when he saw Dean's minute stirrings, looking for the soure of unconciousness. He thought that perhaps Cas had healed up a wound on Dean that left him drained, but when he had done his own mojo search over his brother he found that not to be the case and for the life of him he couldn't find out what was wrong. It had been killing him slowly the last half hour to watch his little brother so still and not knowing why.

Dean also seemed desperate for the answer and looked Cas straight in the eyes, "Cas, why were you out like that?"

Cas groggily looked up at Dean, "The Good stuff and Bad stuff don't mix well. Especially not in large doses. Makes faces fuzzy. Makes the floor move and heads float. And snuffs out the glow..." He groaned, rubbing at his temples.

"Right…but are you going to be okay?" Dean tried again, not liking the way Cas' pupils were completely blown and he couldn't seem to fixate on anything. It wasn't right to see the staring contest champ like that.

"I will recover." He said and sat back again, eyes shutting to cut out the light.

Satisfied for the moment, Dean turned back to his crew, "You said three. Who was the third one? Is it Chuck? Is he okay?"

Sam sheepishly raised his hand in confession.

Dean did a double take."Wha…? Are you okay?"

His brother shrugged, "I just got slammed upside the head. No drugs or kissing for me."

Bobby laughed, "Now ain't that a kick in the head!" Everyone groaned at the bad humor.

Gabriel looked offended at Dean, "Oh! As if my man would ever fall for that cheap floozy!" He moved up to Sam and affectionately ran a hand through his hair.

"Most of my head wished I had," he ground out.

"So let's get this story straight here. First, you were in here getting your freak on with the little whore, Sam was beaten by someone a third his size, and Cas was also somehow drugged mysteriously and then found you here." Meg said, a giggle perched on the edge of her voice as she spoke.

"Hey! I was the one being taken advantage of here! She snuck in here and planted one on me. I'm innocent!" Dean argued.

Castiel's groggy voice also piped up, "And I was not "mysteriously drugged". I kissed her. Twice. And then I got more from Dean." That got everyone's attention. They all looked over to Cas who still had his eyes closed, clearly not caring about the reaction to his correction.

"Uh, right….What the hell is our status anyway?" Asked Dean, still trying to process Cas' confession and doing his best to not feel a small sense of wonder and jealousy at the statement. Twice? That's a lot of poison right? Balthazar had mentioned heavy doses being bad, but Cas seemed to be recovering well enough. And what did he mean he got some from Dean?

Sam perked up to report, "We're shut down. Chuck is trying to get us on the bridge."

Gabriel piped up next to him, "All we know is that we're headed somewhere and it ain't Beaumonde."

"Damn. Let's go fix this then." As Dean moved to the ladder after once last glance and pat on the shoulder for Cas, and the rest of the crew followed him out of the room, except for Balthazar who hesitantly moved over to his brother, still on Dean's bed.

"Cassy? Are you sure you're alright?" He asked gently. He stood next to the bed, shifting from one foot to the other, wanting to move closer to his brother, but the guilt was holding him back.

"I am fine Balthazar," he answered sleepily.

"Do you want me to help you to your own bed?" He offered, but Castiel mearly looked like he considered the thought before snuggling further into Dean's bed, pulling the pillow to a more comfortable position. "No, this is fine. I am…comfy," and he closed his eyes again, ready to sleep off whatever was left in his system.

"Oh. Okay. I'll just…leave you to it then…" Balthazar moved to go up the ladder, stopping when Cas' voice drifted over to him.

"Good night brother. Please be safe until I can find the glow again. And please…help Dean while I cannot. He's a good man, even though he forgets that sometimes." And then Balthazar could see the exact moment Cas fell asleep again because all of the worry lines faded from his face, making him look so young…

Why had he ignored Cassy so? He had been so focused on redeeming himself to his little brother that instead of actually being there for him, he had done what Balthazar had thought was best; protecting Castiel from Dean. Balthazar had been so wrapped up in making sure that Cassy never was abandoned by anyone again, especially by a captain who found himself a new bride, they he had completely ignored Cassy's real feelings on the whole thing. If he had only listened to his brother…maybe they could have stopped this sooner. Castiel wouldn't be drugged, Sam and Dean wouldn't have been attacked, and they might not have been here at all. If they got out of this mess, Balthazar decided that he had to trust Cassy. And if Cassy had faith in Dean, then he should too. And like that, all of his anger towards the Captain dissipated.

"For you Cassy…anything." And he moved up the ladder as quietly as possible as to not wake his slumbering baby brother.

 

CHAPTER 10

After Chuck had discovered that the doors were not mechanically locked, but instead melded together, Sam went to retrieve the blow torch to light up and start dismantling the door instead. The blue flame cackling through the corridor.

Dean stood by watching as Sam literally ripped apart his baby's hinges. As if his heart could take any more damage tonight…. He sighed sadly and turned to the rest of his crew, unable to watch Sam defiling the ship.

"So who's got any idea why she fused the doors? And also…why the whole act? What the hell was she after?" He asked his crew, at a complete loss of answers himself.

"Maybe it was all an elaborate ruse to get into Dean's pants?"

"Shut up, Meg. In case you haven't noticed, we're all in some peril here." Dean growled as she rolled her eyes. All of them put their hands to their chins in silent ponderings.

"Well…she changed our navigation…so she can fly this thing, but she took the shuttle," Chuck said, throwing his thoughts out there. They all thought on this.

"Maybe she has a kink for shuttles?" Gabriel shrugged. Off of everyone's confused looks he tried to defend himself, "Hey, some people make feasts for monkeys!"

There was a loud clang that signaled Sam finally breaking through the doors, so the conversation was dropped at that and the crew all poured into the control room to find some answers. Gabriel and Sam dove for the nav. system, trying to get a read on where the hell they were, and maybe get an inkling as to where the hell they were going. But their search only showed a fuzzed up screen on both the nav. and the radar. When Dean asked them for a report, they could only shake their heads, defeated. There were no answers here.

Dean straightened his posture and gestured to both Chuck and Gabriel with his finger, "Fix it." His voice bore no room for argument and Gabriel threw himself under the panel as Chuck scurried away to go find the tool kit, no more messing around, it was time to follow their Captain's orders.

Pacing back and forth in the small control room, Dean watched out of the corner of his eye as Chuck and Gabriel worked, both on their backs examining the wiring and damage with flashlights. They had been chittering away under there for the last twenty minutes as the rest of the crew hung around wringing their hands in worry

"Wow, she was a pro!" exclaimed Chuck in awe, seeing something mighty spectacular under the hood and pointing it out to Gabriel. The pilot made the same startled gasp, "Yeah she was! This is a masterful job of muck-up. Did you see how she crossed the drive feeds?"

"Yeah, it was pure genius! And she did it so that if we even try to reroute it, the whole system will lock down!"

"I know, friggin' amazing! Dude, we are so hung!" Their two voices certainly didn't sound all that worried about whatever they were finding, but the words he was hearing was starting to alarm Dean.

"Hey! You two can fan-girl over her work later. Can you just move ahead to the part where you fix my ship?" He scolded. Only Gabriel emerged for a moment after the comment, wearing what could pass for an epic Sam bitch-face. He grabbed a couple more tools from the nearby box and disappeared under the panel again before responding to his captain.

"She isn't going to be fixed for a long while, Cap." Came his partially muffled voice as he stuffed his head back into the mass of wiring. But that was not what Dean wanted to hear. All he had wanted from today was a nice quiet day, nice quiet dinner, and then a nice quiet nights sleep. But instead he got a wife, got an angry Cas, got a headache, got drugged by said wife, got a drugged up Cas, and now he had a mucked-up ship heading to God knows where.

All patience gone he growled under the panel, "Well we don't have a good long while! We could be heading straight into a nice big solid moon, for all we know with the radar and nav. down. So how about you two just work a bit faster instead of appreciating the carnage!"

Sam's big hand on his shoulder pulled him back to face his brother's angry glare, "Hey, it was your big make-out session that got us into this, Dean. Don't be taking this out on Gabriel and Chuck. They have to pull us out of this mess." Scolded Sam, clearly not happy with Dean yelling at his pilot and the mechanic.

"Hey, I was poisoned!"

"Drugged," corrected Anna.

Meg snorted for next to the Companion, ribbing Anna with her elbow, "That's why I never kiss them on the mouth." She shared, much to the displeasure and disgust of the rest of the crew. Bobby cleared his throat awkwardly at that, clearly uncomfortable with whatever images his mind had just conjured.

"Well, what can you two idjits do? I'm not of a mind to go hurling into a star anytime in the near future." The preacher huffed out, wanting nothing more than to change the conversation topic.

They heard Chuck's contemplative sigh from under the panels before he answered them, "Give us some time, we can probably get the cortex and nav. back online. At least we would be able to see where we're headed." He mumbled out absently, clearly still focused on whatever he was looking at. The crew absorbed this for a moment, weighing this information against the danger they were in.

"What about steering?" asked Dean, crossing his arms over his chest.

"What about stopping," broke in Sam, mirroring his brother's actions without noticing.

This time it was Gabriel's voice that drifted out from under the panels, "Listen, she humped us hard. We're going to have to do a lot of…"

Impatiently Dean broke in, "Just do what you have to. It doesn't help me to see where we're going if I can't change the course." The crew fell silent, continuing to watch the two mechanics like a pot of water waiting for it to boil. The commentary started up again after a while as Gabriel and Chuck continued to discover more damage.

Unable to listen to all of his baby's ailments, Dean turned back to his crew, noticing Sam was still simmering a bit, "So, what do we make of her?" He asked seriously.

Balthazar shrugged and spoke up for the first time in an hour, "If I didn't know better, I'd say she was a trained Companion." He looked to Anna for conformation. She nodded hesitantly after thinking it through, "And I might have to agree with you. Going from what Dean and Sam said about the seduction techniques, the body language…she was probably trained as a Companion at some point.

"Well ain't she the little wonder. Master seductress, master mechanic, master chef…I'm beginning to think she married beneath herself," Bobby chuckled, shaking his head in amazement and laughing at Dean's livid expression.

"Hey, I bet you would have kissed her too! She was all…naked and….articulate! I mean, she even got Cas to kiss her and he hated her from the start!" Argued the Captain, trying to defend himself in some way.

Sam chose to ignore Dean's pitiful excuse, "Cas did hate her from the start….what were his exact words about her? Maybe we can get a clue from that?" He suggested.

Dean rubbed at the bridge of his nose, "I dunno, he called her a whore enough times. Said she wore faces and seduced men into believing false prophecy…That's all I remember. But I guess it's all true, but it doesn't help us to know it now."

"At dinner he said that she manipulated people to reap her winnings. And that she was bringing us to….the hole? No, wait, pit. Bringing us to the pit." Sam recalled.

Gabriel piped up from the floor, " He also said something about luring us in with a smile and a promise. Something about sirens…dragging us into a net…. That's all I remember."

Bobby puzzled this through. He had plenty of practice of interpreting bible verses and stories in his time as a preacher. It had become second hand to him and now that he thought it through, Cas had provided them with more than ample warning, but they had all chosen to ignore it. Even if his messages were cryptic, each description he gave the various crew members rang with truth. He had no doubt that among the jumbled rants were the answers.

"The whore part is already revealed. What we need to focus on is the rest of it. Now, manipulating people to reap her winnings. Let's start there. What will be here winnings?" asked the preacher, leading the crew deep into thought.

"Dean's virtue?" Joked Meg. Everyone chose to ignore her.

"Something on the ship? Did she steal something from someone?" mused Sam.

Meg snorted, "As if. Nobody has anything on this metal tub worth all this trouble. I know, I've checked."

Dean was reluctant to agree, "She's right. Whatever she was after, it probably wasn't something shiny." The crew sensing a dead end here, Bobby led them on to the next part.

"Well…what about the part about bringing us to the pit? It sounds like a morphing of his later comment of sirens dragging us into the net."

"Oh my God! You don't think she has us headed for a black hole do you!" Chuck had pulled his head out from the mess of wiring, panicked expression on his face. Sam rolled his eyes.

"Dude, chill. You know the nearest black hole is a good sixteen month trip away from here." Sam snorted at the absurdity of Chuck's worry.

"Well…what's a siren? I remember hearing about them in some old books…" Anna asked.

Bobby looked thoughtful for a moment, "As I recall they were Greek creatures of myth that lured sailors with seduction and their voices to crash their ships upon their rocks."

"So she is trying to get us to crash into a moon!" Squeaked Chuck, but Gabriel roughly pulled the mechanic back under the panels to get back to work.

"It don't have to be that literal, boy," scolded Bobby.

"But she is trying to lure us somewhere…" started Anna, sounding more convinced. Dean took a moment to ponder at the absurdity of analyzing Cas' earlier comments like they were some prophecy not yet come to pass, but then again…this was Castiel they were talking about, and he was just full of surprises.

 

"They're coming!"

The chop shop was just as dark and smokey as ever before as one worker looked upon the dirty radar screen. He could see the firefly ship fast approaching as he called to grab his boss' attention.

"How far out," demanded the lead criminal.

The worker yelled back excitedly, "Ten minutes of so, right on target!"

His boss to a moment to shake his head, clearly not expecting such a report, "That girl is a wonder," he muttered to himself in awe, "Tell the boys. We've got ourselves a ship to catch."

The worker dashed off to comply, grinning a toothless grin along the way.

 

"Yes!" Gabriel's jubilant shout brought everyone out from their decryption session to look down at the two mechanics as they crawled out from under the panels to peek at the nav. system.

"You got it up?" asked Dean excitedly, also moving forward to get a look. Gabriel started to flip a few switches here and there, commentating as he moved along, "Uh, we got power… we got lights…we got screens…I'd say it's a qualified yes. Partial anyway."

"What about nav. control? Can we steer this thing?" Dean demanded impatiently.

"Nope," came Chucks sad response.

Dean rolled his eyes, "Well, where are we headed then?"

Sam had moved up to the screen to read the charts out loud, "The coordinates she entered have us headed for something…and it's not too far out. Like twenty minutes out."

Damn, thought Dean. Here he had been hoping she had just sent them for a joy ride. "Did she signal anybody?" He asked eventually, hoping to God that it wasn't a Garrison cruiser to pick up the Novaks.

"Uh…yes. She did. Same coordinates, but no ID. So it definitely isn't Garrison or anyone else official," reported Gabriel, clearly thinking along the same lines as Dean as he fiddled more with the nav. screen. Sam joined him in his fiddling, "Let me see if her signal wave can translate into visual. There might be…electromagnetic interference bouncing the signal all over the place…" Sam tweaked it some more and an image popped up on the screen.

Everyone moved in closer.

"Damn, Sammy-baby. I love it when you get all technical, makes me tingle all over." Purred Gabriel into his ear as they leaned down to look at the image.

"Um…looks like a circle…" Meg commented, eyes darting to Sam and Gabriel for an explanation.

Bobby spoke up from behind them, "I do believe….this is Castiel's prophesized net." He said smugly, as if it was no big deal that they were headed into some big ring of doom.

"I don't get it. Where are we headed?" Chuck said, clearly still lost at the whole symbolism thing, odd since he was a self claimed writer and all.

Dean's eyes never left the screen in front of him, "Into the pit."

 

CHAPTER 11

"Well, shit." Meg clearly wasn't pleased and Dean had to agree with her. This was all kinds of fucked.

"It's a carrion house. Scrap shop. Takes ships, pulls them apart, or fixes them up," informed Bobby, deciding to use some of his knowledge that no normal preacher should know, but Dean had bigger things to worry about than what Bobby read up on the network.

"That doesn't sound so scary," breathed Chuck, sounding hopeful now and not a second away from a coronary like before. Bobby laid a comforting hand on his shoulder, "Oh, don't worry. The ship will be just fine when it hits that net. Us on the other hand….once we fall into that net we're more than just helpless. It'll turn this ship into one big electrical conduit and burn us all from the inside out," he intoned, making it sound all the more ominous with his deep voice.

Sam, the nerd, actually perked up at the tid bits that Bobby was offering, "Oh yeah! I've heard of those. There are some newer ones that will just hold you, and then the scrappers will override the airlocks, pull out the O2 or just gas you."

Bobby nodded, as if Sam was talking about a new model transcar and not a machine of death, "I heard of those too. Very efficient for those not looking to deal with survivors." While they were having a random information-off, the rest of the crew gave them incredulous looks.

Raising a delicate eyebrow, Meg gave the preacher a searching up-down with her eyes, "So…one day you're gonna tell us how a Sheppard knows so damn much about crime, right? Perhaps as a bed time story?" She asked coyly. Bobby winked at her, earning an appreciative nod of respect from the brunette.

Dean had enough of wasting time here. He was literally looking at a portal to their deaths and they were focusing on all the wrong things. "Can we fix this thing in twenty minutes?" He asked, turning to Chuck and Gabriel. The helpless expressions on both of their faces told him that while they were amazing mechanics…they were only human. They would need a plan B.

"You two, keep on it. I figure that we have one shot at this. Give me a visual as soon as we're close," knowing Gabriel and Chuck would do just that, Dean started out of the control room with the rest of the crew hot on his heels. "Sam, go prep the suits. Balthazar, give him a hand with them. Anna, go check on Cas. He might be freaking out if he wakes up alone and…senses something bad approaching. Bobby, why don't you send up a little prayer and then go see if Chuck and Gabriel need anything."

Each of them nodded before dashing off to follow their respective orders, not willing to waste time by asking the plan. But Meg was still there, confused as to what she should be doing. She would be damned if she was stuck relying on the others to save her tiny ass.

"Hey, what do I do?" She demanded.

Dean turned to her, jaw tense and eyes intense, "You go get Jane."

 

After Meg had retrieved her beloved weapon, she and Dean raced down to the hold where Sam was already getting into his mylar suit, the other two suits laid out waiting for Meg and Dean.

Dean had never put on his suit that fast before, and it resulted in getting his shirt and some skin on his neck getting caught in the zipper, but he paid it little mind, only focusing on saving the rest of their skins for the time being. He knew it was impossible, but he swore he could feel the buzz of the electromagnetic net as they moved closer, like a wasp coming too close to his ear.

Meg was dutifully loading up Jane, checking all of her various switches and gauges, checking the sight, making sure everything was in working order. She thought that she knew what Dean was planning, but there was no way that could work.

"You do know that she needs oxygen around her to fire. And I don't have a case because you don't pay me enough," she growled out trying to act completely normal. Which for her was pissy, but worry was still hidden in her eyes so that no one could see.

Dean nodded in understanding as he adjusted one of the sleeves of his suit, "I gotcha. But we've already got that figured out. We're gonna use a spare suit." He gestured over to where Balthazar was dragging over the last empty suit and getting it ready like he saw Sam do before.

"Got it right here for her. Good old, bloody space condom for Jane," chirped Balthazar removing the helmet for Jane to be slipped in. The Captain was glad to see him partially come out of his funk, but maybe the good mood was simply the hysterics of impending doom.

Meg moved to put her prized weapon into the suit, catching on to Dean's plan, "Okay, so I'm going to be shooting at something…What am I aiming for? A window? Political bumper stickers?"

Everyone knew that Meg was the best shot there was on the ship. Even Dean begrudgingly had to admit to it. She had proven herself time after time with her guns, so Dean was confident in putting his and the crews lives in her hand for the moment. Even if he didn't trust her wholeheartedly, he trusted her to want to save herself, and as it was, she would go down with them all if she failed.

Dean and Meg moved up to the window in the hold on the airlock, now able to see the looming net without the aid of the radar. From here they could see mechanical ring, just big enough to nab most ships floating in the black. They could also see now that it was more of a hexagon shape, due to there being six origins of power that made up the contraption.

"Hitting a window might kill a few people, but probably not all of them. And it certainly won't short the net. So I'm thinking that we hit one of those breakers. They're the six points that are brightest on the ring. Just go for one of those, and the whole thing should short out." Dean directed, glad for his own mechanical knowledge.

Meg snorted beside him and rolled her eyes, "Ha! "Should" he says…" she muttered to herself as she moved into position along with the rest of them. Sam, Dean and Meg all stepped into the airlock after making sure to tie their lines tight to the ship and the magnets in their feet were turned on to cling to the floor. Once situated, Balthazar closed the airlock door behind them, closing them off from the rest of the ship. Then he triggered open the outer door.

They watched as the net was revealed as the door slid slowly open. Dean's eyes caught the electric blue sparks and snorted to himself when it reminded him of Cas' eyes when he got angry. Shaking his head, he got his mind back to the present, focused entirely on the job.

Turning on his suit radio, he called to Meg, "Do you see them?" He asked, referring to the six breakers that sparked just a tad brighter than the rest. He heard her happy voice cackle back over the head-set. Sounded like she was excited to be able to use her shiny gun tonight.

"Clear as a preacher's conscious. You see, Jane? Dress yourself up; you get taken out somewhere fun." She smiled cat-like, bearing all teeth as she peered into the scope, only slightly awkwardly due to the helmet in the way. But there was no way that she could miss this shot. That would just suck too hard to even consider.

 

The rest of the crew had all gathered in the control room as Gabriel and Chuck continued to work at breakneck speed trying to accomplish something…or to distract them from the impending doom.

Balthazar had moved up next to Bobby, watching the net as it appeared in the window.

Anna was standing with a still incredibly groggy Castiel, holding his hand in hers, neither sure who it was supposed to comfort. The sight of the death trap sent shivers through her whole body, "What do we do now?" She asked starting to sound desperate. "There must be something else we can do?"

Castiel shrugged tiredly next to her, "Well…we can either trust Dean….or I suggest that we all consume copious amounts of alcohol and wait for the inevitable shock-wave." He sounded very nonchalant about it all, like he was making tentative weekend plans, but he shifted slightly closer to Balthazar, who in turn shifted closer to Castiel, offering support with one hand as Cas swayed slightly.

"Little too late for getting drunk," grumbled Bobby, his eyes never leaving the window. Everyone in the room shivered.

 

She only paused a moment longer before firing the first shot, hitting the topmost breaker, finger clenching over the trigger with practiced ease. Her eyes followed the trajectory until it hit its mark straight on, immediately exploding into sparks. And then to show off to the Winchesters, she fired five more times before all of the oxygen leaked out of the suit where the bullet holes had ripped through. Each shot hit a different breaker, sending it into electric spasms that arched and sizzled violently.

The three of them tensed as the Impala got closer, still right on target for the net as it continued shorting out in a wild tantrum. But the blue sparks stopped shooting just in time for their ship to slip right on through, like a hot knife through butter. Not even a static tingle for the crew to feel.

Sam "whooped" into his headset, calling it into the other two as well as the crew back on the Impala, listening in on the radio chatter. Through the same channel they could hear the crew celebrating back in the control room. Gabriel's voice the loudest of them all, making Sam smile extra wide.

Dean smiled softly to himself when he thought he heard Cas' voice in the background grumbling, "This is all very exciting, but can I go back to bed now?" It reminded Dean of Sam on New years eve when they were still kids.

And Meg was cursing a blue streak of happy praises to herself, "Holy f***! Did you see that s***! I am so f******* awesome! I deserve a f****** raise, yeah mother f*****! Wooo! Hugs and puppies all around!"

The string of expletives continued on even after Balthazar came to open up the airlock to let the three back in. But Dean wouldn't say anything to stop her, even when the cursing got especially colorful around the time Bobby arrived to congratulate them. She had saved their lives after all. But in Dean's mind he would give the credit to Jane…for being awesome and shiny.

 

They had yet to get back their steering, so the initial trajectory that Bella had them on was still in effect, but at this point they were simply drifting aimlessly with no danger showing up on the radar. Dean had decided to go up to the control room to check on the progress a few hours after their victory over the chop shop. But as he walked down the corridor he stumbled upon Sam leaning against the ramp on the catwalk. It had been an incredibly stressful day, but Dean felt this was something he had to take care of, so he moved up next to his brother and leaned on the ramp as well, looking out over the hold like he and Sam had done for years before.

"Hey, Sam. How are you doing?" He asked, gesturing with his chin to Sam's head.

Absently Sam fingered his head where a few hours ago there was a gaping, bloody wound. There was no evidence of the injury now, except for a little blood stain on his shirt collar, but Dean always felt it necessary to make sure that Sam was okay. It had been a habit since childhood.

"I'm fine, Dean. Gabe fixed me up." He said shortly, not looking at his brother. Yeah, he's still miffed at me, thought Dean.

"Listen Sammy…I'm sorry about…earlier. This whole mess really. I just…she seemed so…" He trailed off, not sure how to explain to his little brother how she had just seemed so vulnerable and innocent at the time, and how it made him think of Cas. He had just wanted to save them, give them a new chance at life. Just like they had done for the Novaks, for Bobby, Anna, Chuck, and even Meg, but blessed Sammy didn't need to hear because he already knew.

"Dean. I know. I get it. We all get it really. You were just trying to save her. There is nothing wrong with that, I mean, even I believed her at first. I wasn't so mad at you, just confused that you were ignoring all the warning signs. And you have never brushed off Cas like that before. It was…alarming."

Dean nodded and looked down at his hands. He had brushed off Cas, like he was just some nut-job that new nothing when really…the poor guy knew way too much. Maybe their vacuum was possessed then…..he should probably check that out, he mused.

A bump from Sam's shoulder into his brought him out of his musings, "What about you and Cas now? You guys okay?" Sam had his puppy eyes out, oozing concern and worry.

Dean leaned back, hands still gripping the railing to keep from falling backwards and tilted his head back to the ceiling, "I dunno Sam. I owe him big time for this screw up."

"You could always start by making him dinner," Sam suggested with a sappy grin. Dean smiled back reluctantly and slapped his brother's arm.

"I don't think he'd take it as a kindness for me to go giving him food poisoning. I'll leave the cooking up to Bobby and Anna."

They both chuckled and the tension between the two evaporated. A moment passed in silence before Dean reluctantly pushed off from the railing, "I've got to go check on the two tinkerers. I'll catch up with you later." And he left Sam to his own thoughts and finished his trek to the control room.

 

The control room was a mess. There were pieces of old and new wiring strewn about the floor. The air smelled of burnt rubber and singed metal from the welding. And the toolbox seemed to have exploded, sending all of its tools to random corners and surfaces around the room. He saw two pairs of legs poking out from under the main panel that he quickly identified as Chuck and Gabriel. What he was really surprised about was Cas perched on one of the many messy panels, swinging his feet back and forth under the surface, watching the pair work. The initial shock ebbed when he remembered that it had been a few hours, and Cas had probably worked the drugs out of his system by now.

He looked up as Dean entered the room and offered a hesitant smile that Dean returned just as shyly. Along with the guilt he had been feeling, now he was also a little ashamed at the whole mess with Bela since Cas knew everything that had happened. But he wasn't about to have one of their "heart to heart" talks here with two very nosy crew members a few feet away, so instead he chose to just move over to stand closely to Cas, just close enough for his hip to make contact with one of the other man's swinging legs. Immediately the leg stopped swinging and his face turned up to meet Deans. And he smiled again, but it wasn't his dreamy smile, it wasn't his shy smile, and it wasn't even his I-have-no -idea-why-I'm-smiling smile. It was the one he had first had given when he told Dean that he was a good man, and then again when Dean had pulled him from the fire. There were no words to describe it besides…honest.

That one glance between them was enough to convey an hour long conversation of apologies and forgiveness. They would be fine, but forgiveness was one thing. Redemption was another.

"Wahoo! We got it!"

The triumphant shout from Gabriel drew both Cas' and Dean's attention to the two mechanics as they scooted out from their work place, grease covering their features. The Captain nodded to them, looking hopeful.

Chuck smiled contently, "It's not pretty, but we can steer enough to turn around," he reported with a relieved smile. The whole day had been a true work up on his nerves.

Dean let out a happy cheer and drew Cas in with a one arm hug and a sloppy kiss into his wild hair, "That is great guys! Let's get back on track then, huh?" Cas' whole face flushed, but he didn't pull away.

Gabriel was smiling warmly at the display of affection as he cleaned some of the grease off of his hands, "Careful there Captain. Don't you know that kissin' makes you sleepy?" He joked, trademark smirk on his face.

Dean returned the smirk, "Well sometimes I just can't help myself. Now…I say it's time to go visiting."

 

CHAPTER 12

Bela had been frantically packing up her things from the small cabin she had acquired from one of her "past jobs". She had gone back to the chop shop to pick up her payment, only to find it a floating cloud of debris. Something had happened there that she wasn't about to stick around to find out what. Self preservation was all she cared about…well, that and money. But there was no money in her own death.

Her mind worked furiously over what might have transpired, but all she could think of was that Winchester had somehow gotten himself out of that mess, and that didn't bode well for her at all. She prided herself on being able to read others, and anyone with half a brain could see how much he cared about his crew. And going by the amount of the drug that the strange man had ingested…well, he should be belly up by now. Her dear husband would be livid.

BAM

The door to the cabin suddenly burst open and Dean Winchester stepped through. And he was indeed livid.

"Honey, I'm home." He hissed, fingers twitching on his gun.

Bela didn't waste any time. Like a cornered animal she lashed out by throwing the knife she kept in one sleeve, but Dean sidestepped it easily, his glare never leaving her form as she backed up until her legs hit the bedframe. Now she really was cornered and Dean moved slowly forward, like a cat prowling after it's captured prey. A shiver of fear rolled through her body, but she didn't let it show. She just watched as her death advanced on her.

Finally when Dean was three feet in front of her he snapped out his arms to restrain her. Bela struggled, scratched, and kicked with all of her might, but Dean held her wrists firmly and didn't even flinch. Eventually she started to tire and Dean was able to pin her to the bed behind her. This time, her mask slipped and the Captain could see a look of resignment and fear at last. The first true emotion he had ever seen from her.

His eyes roamed over her body as he held her down, trying his best to scare the living hell out of the bitch who tried to kill his crew, "Well, well, well. Looks like you get that wedding night after all," he whispered dangerously.

Her eyes widened and she twisted and flipped like a fish and knocked them both to the floor, but Dean was easily able to overpower the smaller body and had her pinned again in one breath.

"Jeez Darlin', I think you should be gentle with me. It's our first time after all," he mocked.

All of her struggling stopped and she glared up at him, eyes meeting with mutual fire, "So, are you gonna kill me?" This was the second time she had asked Dean this question, and while he had been mortified back then at the idea, he was starting to warm up to it now.

"Can you conjure up a compelling reason for me not to? You tried to kill my crew. I tend to take that personally."

She shrugged as much as Dean's firm hands would allow, "You lived."

He tightened his grip and she flinched in pain, "You handed me and my crew over to a chop shop to be fried up like chicken. We survived because we pulled together even though you did you damnest to pull us apart."

"I made you dinner." She said, sassiness filtering through.

Dean shook his head in amazement, "How do you sleep at night?"

"On silken sheets, rolling naked in money," she purred up at him.

"Why the act? All the seduction games, the manipulation. There has to be an easier way to steal. What are you really after?" Dean had to know, the questions had been burning him from the inside since he had learned the truth about her.

She let a sick smile cross her features, "You're assuming the payoff is the point. I just procure items for a select clientele."

"A thief. That's it?"

"A great thief. Now tell me, your funny friend, how'd he handle the two heavy doses? Or did her perish finally?"

She thought that she had gotten the response she wanted, Dean's face had frozen, but instead of him going limp with surprise and sorrow like she had planned on, he gripped even tighter, growling into her face.

"You made a big mistake by touching him, but consider yourself lucky that he is just fine and pruning his plant right now, nice and healthy. If it was any other case…" He brought his gun up to her temple and pressed the barrel in to the skin just enough to drive the meaning home, "We would not be talking right now because your brain matter would be scattered all over this pretty and expensive carpet." He said in a low voice. She was playing a dangerous game right now, trying to upset Dean, but it looked like he was in full control of his emotions. She was screwed.

Half-heartedly she wiggled again in his grasp, trying to loosen it where he was gripping too tightly, "How did you find me?" If she survived this she would really like to know what she did wrong so it could be avoided next time….even if it was really looking like her time had finally run out.

Dean shrugged, "Only a few places that shuttle would make it to from where you left. Also…each shuttle has a tracking device at close range. Something nice that Chuck set up a long time ago. Glad he had the foresight to do that. I'm pleased that you kept it in such nice condition though, not tossing it off to some chop shop."

She smiled, "Oh Dean, after all of this drama is done, you and me should really have angry sex." She wiggled again under him, only this time she made them bump in more…strategic places.

He stopped her movements with a push of the barrel against her head. It was sickening to him now to have her touch him, "Bela, I swear you even think about playing me again I will riddle you full of holes and stuff them with weird objects for someone else to find and ponder upon."

She rolled her eyes in exasperation, "Everybody plays each other. That's all anybody ever does. We play parts. You play the hero, I play the bad girl."

"No. That's not it at all. You choose to be someone else instead of who you really are. You may have made me look like an idiot with your little charade, but here I am with a gun to your head. That's because I have people with me. People who trust me each other, and aren't always looking for the advantage. That's your burden to bear, sweetheart. You're all alone."

Scoffing she turned her head away breaking eye contact, "Please tell me you're going to kill me soon." She whispered.

"You already know that I'm not going to," he growled out, not really believing himself that he was going to let this wench go after everything she did. Roughly he jostled her to get her attention back up at him so he could meet her eyes, "I've just got one question for you. Well…two actually, and I'd like to know, straight up."

Interest sparked in her eyes, "Ask me."

"How in the 'verse did you get Cas to kiss you?"

She smiled slyly, "I'm sorry, trade secret."

"Fair enough. My second question; what's your middle name?"

She stared at him for a moment, not expecting that question at all. But as she was about to stutter out her reply, Dean uses the butt of his gun across her temple, knocking her out. He sighed heavily and got off of her, putting his gun away.

"Only would have lied either way," he said sadly. He left the cabin and walked back to the ship with a little bit of a hop in his step. Anna and Bobby were currently cooking up some of the meat that Elder Gommen had given them and he had plans to hang with Cas later that night. The idea of a nice relaxing night brought a smile to his face.

 

Dean grunted in exertion as he dug his fingers into Cas. He had started to work up as sweat somewhere in the last few minutes and he watched as some of it dripped onto Cas' back, absently watching it trail down the skin. The man underneath him was moaning in pleasure as Dean touched him, tensing up when Dean hit a spot that sent tingles over his body. Cas was practically melted under Dean's ministrations.

"Tell me where it feels good, Cas." Mumbled Dean from above, his motions never stopping.

Cas moaned louder and wiggled closer, "Everywhere!"

Dean rolled his eyes and continued to rub his hands over Cas' shoulder blades as he worked out a knot in one of the muscles. Dean had finally gotten that lesson from Anna and he had offered to try his new skill out on Cas that night when he saw the other man squirming in his seat at dinner trying to find a comfortable angle. He had readily agreed when Dean had approached him after.

Gabriel had also offered some of the pain killers from the infirmary, but Cas had freaked out at that and practically had a hysterical fit at the very idea. He had backed himself up in a corner and covered his mouth with both hands like a toddler refusing to eat, all the while glaring daggers at anyone who tried to move up close. It took Balthazar, Gabe, Bobby and Dean to get him to calm down after that, finally figuring out that Cas didn't want to take anymore drugs because they "hid the glow so I couldn't find it." They took it to mean that Cas liked keeping whatever wits he had left about him.

He pressed the heels of his palms into the space between Cas' shoulder blades and got another enthusiastic moan from him that had Dean checking the door to the room for the millionth time, expecting to see Balthazar come tearing in a shooting Dean full of holes. Or Gabriel with a box of condoms and a book on sex positions. Sam with an "I told you so" bitch face. Bobby with a damning sermon on pre-marital sex. Anna and Meg with smirks. At least Chuck had the common sense to not barge into the Captain's room.

"Jeez, Cas. I know I'm good, but please keep it down. People will talk."

Cas sighed, but Dean could still see half of his smile from where his face was burrowed in the pillow. His eyes were partially glazed over like they had been when he was still fighting off the drug…it made Dean pause momentarily. Here he had Cas blessed out, pliant, willing, happy…maybe now he could get what had been troubling his mind for a while now out in the open? He pressed firmly down on a spot that Dean had identified as one of the other man's more tender zones and was rewarded with a happy gasp.

"So…Cas…Are you going to tell me how she tricked you into kissing her?"

"….I blame the pizza man."  
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Gah, I am so mean to you guys, but that last scene was too perfect for me to not write . I hope y'all don't hate me too much! Next up will be episode 7: The Gospels of Chuck!


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